These tiny town police forces are often hotbeds of intrigue.
The cops are paid next to nothing. And often they either do nothing or act like Barney Fife.
Most of these little towns would be better served by disbanding their local departments and paying the county sheriff’s office for coverage.
Good idea.
NAiled it in 2. Good show.
Wise words but the real problem is always the city council.
cpdiii Salado, Texas
“These tiny town police forces are often hotbeds of intrigue....”The cops are paid next to nothing. And often they either do nothing or act like Barney Fife.”
“Often” or just TV-based stereotypes???
Maybe the town can get some recompense suing you for slander, as you know nothing about this little town.
A few small towns in a neighboring state did just that. It was a mostly centered on the town being usable to provide equipment. They had used Crown Vics, their one 4x4 vehicle was not worth repair, and they patrolled the “hilltowns” of western MA, radios were outdated and had very poor coverage in many parts of town in addition to low pay.
In the end they merged with 2 or 3 smaller surrounding depts to combine resources, keeping most of the officers and old command staff. Now they spread the cost out and buy one or two new cars every ~3 years, keep the ones just retired as spares, joined a regional dispatch center with a modern radio system and have consistent staffing. For example, the Sgts. stayed in the same position but it allowed them to have one on each shift, etc.
“Most of these little towns would be better served by disbanding their local departments and paying the county sheriff’s office for coverage.”
I’ve been urging this for my little town of 3,500. Our PD has time to spend chasing kids for screeching tires, vehicle unlocks, and barking dogs. I’d say that’s a case for defunding the cops.
How many police do you need for 1000 people?