COTTER POLICE CHIEF QUITS AFTER BEING ASKED TO TAKE DRUG TEST

COTTER -- Cotter Police Chief Joe Robison resigned Tuesday, Mayor Mo
Mosley said.

"It was more than he was willing to contend with," Mosley said.

Mosley asked Robison to take a drug test; and after Robison
consulted with his attorney, he declined to take the drug test and
resigned, Mosley said.

Robison could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Mosley, who was contacted after business hours, said The Baxter
Bulletin could receive a copy of the resignation letter Wednesday.

Robison was hired as Cotter police chief April 17.

He previously was chief of the Battlefield, Mo., police department,
until he was suspended without pay last year as police investigated
missing evidence.

Robison was suspended without pay as authorities investigated
another police officer for allegedly stealing a switchblade seized
during an earlier traffic stop, according to a story published last
year in The Springfield News-Leader.

Although Robison was not charged with any wrongdoing, the city
council refused to reinstate him to his position.

Robison was hired at Cotter to replace Ron Weaver, who stepped down
from police chief to assistant police chief in February.

In April, Mosley fired Weaver, citing declining performance of the department.