POCATELLO — The unions representing Pocatello's police officers and firefighters have taken the unprecedented step of calling for a longtime city councilman's resignation following comments he reportedly made about how Pocatello's low crime rate and lack of diversity compared to some other cities should be factored into the Police Department's staffing level.

In statements provided to the Idaho State Journal on Saturday, both unions called for City Councilman Roger Bray's immediate resignation and the police union said its members also decided at a Friday meeting to give him a vote of no confidence.

The Pocatello police union, Portneuf Valley Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 13, said in its statement to the Journal: "We as a body feel that Councilman Bray does not represent our personal and professional values of excellence, integrity, loyalty, courage, and respect for each member of our community. We believe that Councilman Bray's statements adversely affect our community, our city, and our Police Department by creating a hostile environment that reduces our department's ability to retain current employees, recruit new employees, and represent the diversity in the community we live in and serve. We feel that Councilman Bray's comments reveal his bias. This completely eliminates his effectiveness as a leader in our community. Councilman Bray's comments are intolerable. The Portneuf Valley FOP Lodge 13 is proud to serve and protect our entire, diverse community, and we strongly disapprove of the comments made by Councilman Bray in two separate public forums."

Bray, who's been on the City Council for more than 10 years, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday about the calls for his resignation from the city's police and firefighters unions.

Bray's first comment that attracted criticism occurred during a July 7 budget hearing at City Hall while discussing the Police Department's officer per city resident ratio being below the national average. Bray reportedly said at the hearing, "We have had a very efficient department, we've been able to take care of that ratio, because we are not as diverse a community as some."

The comment caught the attention of members of the Pocatello NAACP, including James Yizar, who addressed the City Council about it during Thursday evening's meeting at City Hall.

"When a leader in a powerful position communicates a statement like that, it reduces the motivation and energy others are putting into inclusion and acceptance philosophies encouraging others to be connected and appreciative of differences," Yizar said during Thursday's council meeting. "When a leader expresses a statement that nothing should be done or something taken away because our community is not diverse, individuals that I represent by the color of my skin believe that they are not welcome, do not belong and are concerned for their safety being in this community."