FERRIDAY — The Ferriday Police Department was apparently restructured Thursday with changes in personnel and administration, but what those changes were was not made publicly clear.

Mayor Gene Allen released a written statement after the changes, but the statement did not detail what the changes were. They reportedly included a change in police chief and several firings.

Allen said Thursday evening he would speak after a meeting, but did not answer his phone later.

“Over the past few days, I have had to make some difficult decisions, however, they are decisions that I think best benefit the Town of Ferriday,” Allen said in the written statement Thursday evening.

“Ferriday Police Department’s main objective is to ensure that the citizens of this town are protected, and unfortunately I don’t believe that we were meeting those expectations with some of the staff members we had in place.”

Allen said Ferriday is “reaching out to larger municipalities to explore better recruitment and training practices, and we are determined to put administrative and support staff in place to better serve this community.”

Under the Ferriday town charter, the mayor has the final say on hires and fires within the town government, including the police chief.

The board of aldermen officially ratifies the appointment of the chief, but has no power to say whose name is or is not brought to the table. Chief Derrick Freeman was appointed last August.

Members of the board of aldermen said they were not a part of the decision.

Alderwoman Gayle Pryor said she was not aware of the changes. The Rev. Johnnie Brown, the alderman who serves as mayor pro tem, said he had only heard “street talk” about the changes and had not gotten “official or unofficial” notification of any changes from the town hall.

“I was not privy to that information, I was not part of it,” Brown said. “(The mayor) didn’t tell me or any of the other board members that I am aware of.”