When he was elected by the aldermen to be Chief, Junius Mullen had more than twenty years’ experience in the Raleigh Police Department.  The newspapers stated that his election “marked a new era in this city, for it is doubtful if ever again a chief will be selected except from the police force.” By many accounts, he was a well-liked chief, popular among his officers and the public.  From his first year in office, he had presented each officer with a Christmas turkey.  On New Year’s Day, 1900, the police force presented him with a gold watch chain and charm following the afternoon roll call and shift change.
By April of 1909, however, Chief Mullen (or Mullin, or Mullins, or Mullen; spellings in the newspapers vary), found himself at odds with city officials.  A reporter had asked to see the account books held by the police department, denoting fines collected.  The reporter alleged that there was a large discrepancy between what had been collected and what had subsequently been received by the City.  The day following the reporter’s claims, the police station was broken into, and the books were damaged, obscuring the information.  Chief Mullins was suspended until an investigation into both the allegations and the damage to the books could be conducted.  The Police Commissioners appointed Captain Jack Beasley to serve as interim chief.  A man named Van Gill was arrested soon after the break-in, but his guilt was questioned by newspapers – the damage was specific, and Gill, being nearly illiterate as well as unfamiliar with police records, would have had trouble determining what to destroy. The case was dismissed for lack of evidence a few days later. 
At the end of April, a new issue to investigate was brought forward against the Chief – despite a bond being required for his position, the last one that had been collected from him was in 1901.  Charges were brought against him for failure to pay this bond, as well as for failure to make proper police reports to the Board of Aldermen, on April 24th.  Following a unanimous vote by the Board of Police Commissioners, Chief Mullins found guilty of the charges and dismissed on May 12, 1909.  The Board found no evidence that the Chief was involved in the defacement of the police record books.  By May of 1909, the Wake County Board of Education brought a lawsuit against Mullins for fines imposed by courts, which Mullins had failed to collect.
Junius Mullins found employment as a concrete worker after he left the Police Department, and remained active in the Masons, the Elks, and other fraternal organizations.  He was found dead in his home in 1916, apparently the victim of a heart attack, and buried at City Cemetery in Raleigh.