UPDATED: RPD major resigns

UPDATE: On Friday, May 8, at 2:16 p.m., Richmond Chief of Police Kyle Weatherly announced that Adam Blanton had resigned from the department. Weatherly said RPD appreciates Blanton’s contributions and wishes him well.

WWN has asked RPD to clarify when the resignation becomes effective.

Original story:

Major Adam Blanton is “in the process of transitioning out of my role” with Richmond Police Department.

Blanton told WWN in a May 6 email that he remained employed with RPD with unchanged responsibilities. His employment status became an issue during Richmond Common Council’s May 4 meeting. Mayor Ron Oler refused to answer a direct question from Council President Justin Burkhardt about Blanton’s employment, citing privacy concerns.

Oler forwarded WWN’s emailed question about Blanton to the city’s legal department for treatment as a public records request. Neither RPD Chief Kyle Weatherly nor Blanton attended council’s meeting and preceding finance committee meeting despite being invited. Council members Anne Taylor, who is married to Weatherly, and Gary Turner were absent from the meeting.

Burkhardt’s question came during council’s discussion about eight police vehicles RPD ordered from Wetzel Ford last September in a manner that violated Chapter 41 of city code, which governs purchasing. During a budget revision, the $400,000 for the vehicles was allocated for other RPD and Richmond Fire Department purchases; however, RPD did not inform Wetzel that the budget no longer contained the money.

Wetzel informed RPD in January that the vehicles had arrived, but RPD indicated it was still searching for vehicle funding. On April 15, Blanton emailed Wetzel blaming Burkhardt and council member Jerry Purcell for refusing to release vehicle funding.

Burkhardt read that email into the meeting record, and said he was “very disappointed” in it. Purcell said he took “great offense.” Oler said he and the city’s law and human resources departments dealt with Blanton about the email, but did not provide details. Oler also said police purchasing protocols now align with the city’s procedures.

“To say that I’m disappointed in our police administration is an understatement,” Burkhardt said. “We have to do better.”

He said council and the finance department will try to “make this situation right” for Wetzel by identifying funds in the mayor’s and police budgets to purchase all eight vehicles.

Purcell, a former fire chief, purchased RFD equipment and said he’d “never seen such sloppy work in my life” about the Wetzel order. Council member Doug Goss, who previously served as the city’s information technology director, said RPD’s order showed total disregard for the bid process and city law.

“If Major Blanton is still employed by the city, I highly recommend he be let go,” Goss said.

Blanton was appointed to RPD by Weatherly, with both assuming their positions Jan. 1, 2024, when Oler took office. In his email, Blanton said he is proud of their work in the department and the officers who “do this job the right way every day.” 

Blanton leaving his role “is the result of continued breakdowns in leadership, decision-making, and accountability at the city administration level,” he wrote to WWN. “I will not remain in a position where I am expected to carry the weight of decisions I did not make or serve as a convenient explanation for failures that originate elsewhere.”

Blanton did not provide a timeline for his change.

During its May 4 meeting, council also heard an ordinance that updates the 2026 budget to include the 3% raise negotiated by RPD officers’ union, John Hennigar Fraternal Order of Police Post 63. The two-year contract for 2026 and 2027 was not completed until after council adopted the 2026 budget Oct. 30.

Beth Fields, the city’s director of strategic initiatives, told council’s finance committee that placeholders for potential union raises are no longer used in budgets. She said the city was accused of not negotiating in good faith when a budget included a raise placeholder.

Instead, the city’s Redevelopment Commission had approved providing $250,000 to cover a raise package, which will cost about $221,000. The city had included police and fire operational expenses among permitted uses for tax increment finance funds.

Purcell, who chairs the finance committee, noted the city also used opioid settlement and EMS fund money to pay 2025 police and fire overtime costs. 

“We need to look into this, so we can live within the budget,” Purcell said.