Velma Williams, one of three city commissioners who voted no confidence at the three-hour special meeting, said afterward that she could not understand why the police had not made an arrest in the case. “Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder can see through all of this,” she said.

But Commissioner Randy Jones, who chose not to vote against the police chief, was not so sure, saying Chief Lee was welcoming a review of the department’s handling of the shooting. “The wheels of justice turn at 55 miles per hour, to make sure it’s deliberate, that everything lines up,” Mr. Jones said.

Chief Lee has served only 10 months leading a police department that has had a troubled relationship with blacks in Sanford. His predecessor, Brian Tooley, was forced out of the job after a scandal that involved a police lieutenant’s son. The son attacked a homeless man in December 2010 but the police did not immediately arrest him after the episode, which was recorded on video. Even after being sent a video of the attack, Chief Tooley failed to act promptly.

This came five years after two white security guards killed a black teenager. One of the guards was the son of a former Sanford police officer and the other was a volunteer in the department. The security guards claimed self-defense, saying that the black teenager tried to run them over. The teenager died from a gunshot wound in his back.

A judge dismissed the case over lack of evidence. The case inflamed passions in the town about the treatment of blacks by the criminal justice system.