Cook and former Town Manager Christine Bralley are liable for the full $2.1 million. That amount includes $30,000 each for Bralley and Cook in punitive damages — $10,000 for each of the three officers.

Cook retired in 2013. Bralley retired in November 2016.

During the trial, Cook and Bralley testified that they fired the officers for poor performance, and Bralley said she didn’t know about the officers calling the state agencies.

According to testimony, Cook, however, never fired any other officers except Donathan, Hunter and Medlin during his time as chief. Several Mocksville police officers were accused of coming into work intoxicated, stealing property from a supply closet at the police department and pulling a gun outside the police department and pointing it at people. A police officer was also accused of ramming a patrol car into another car while intoxicated, according to testimony.

All of those officers were not fired; they resigned.

Two days before the firings, Bralley contacted Sprint, the town’s cellphone provider. Bralley testified that her calls to Sprint were part of a six-month review of cellphone calls to see whether officers were making too many personal calls on their town-issued cellphones.