Setting the record straight

... on the Saint Paris police.

We've had 17 resignations from our tiny force since I joined the village council in January 2022. Seventeen. That's one every 60 days. We're budgeted for three full-timers and two part-timers. Can't run a police squad -- or any organization for that matter -- if one must replace and train 20 percent of it every two months.

This is the reality of police recruitment in the post-Covid world.

Every department has the same problem -- the evidence is everywhere. Sure, we can try to compete by raising our starting pay -- we'd need to nearly double it ! -- but we'll never be able to offer the upward mobility that comes with joining a larger force.

It's foolish to think we can swim against the tide.

At best we'll always be a training ground -- a useful hitching post -- for rookie cops. We can do better for our citizens.

There is a solution.

The sheriff offers a community-policing plan that we should try for a year or so. Professional policing within our budget. If it doesn't work out, we still own the cars, building and equipment.

So why the opposition?

Personalities and politics.