WHITEHALL – The Whitehall Village Board voted June 18 to begin the process that could lead to the dissolution of the village police department.
The board voted 5-0 to introduce a local law that would disband the department and set a public hearing on the proposal for 5 p.m. July 16. Eliminating the police department would require at least one such hearing and would be subject to a permissive referendum, Village Attorney Matt Fuller has previously said.
The process of ending the department could take several months, Fuller has said.
The vote came after board members received two pieces of information that appeared to support getting rid of the department.
The first piece of information came from Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey J. Murphy, who provided an estimate of the cost to the village of contracting with his agency to provide deputies who would be dedicated to enforcing the law in the village. Murphy said the cost of having four deputies who would be stationed in the village 20 hours a day, seven days a week, would total $419,000.
Village Clerk/Treasurer Stephanie LaChapelle said the cost of maintaining the village police department would total nearly $586,000.
The second piece of information came from Mayor Julie Eagan, who said she spoke recently with officials in the county Personnel Office, who told her there are only two people signed up to take a Civil Service examination to become police officers. The village currently has six openings in its department following the resignations of all its full-time officers.
Contracting with the sheriff’s office for police coverage is one of three options the board has been considering. The others are rebuilding the village-run department or creating a hybrid model in which the village and the sheriff’s office would jointly provide police services.
The latter option has largely been discarded because of the complexity of such an operation and reluctance on the part of Murphy.
Richard LaChapelle, the retired Whitehall police sergeant who is currently serving as the officer-in-charge of a department composed of eight part-time officers – many of whom are full-time officers with other agencies – said he believes moving forward with dissolving the department makes the most sense for the village. He also praised the Village Board for scheduling a hearing to garner public input on the proposal.
“I think you need to hear from the public (so) at least you guys can make a good decision,” LaChapelle told board members prior to the vote.
LaChapelle also noted the difficulties Whitehall – and other small police departments – face in attracting and retaining officers. The officers who left the department all moved on to higher-paying positions at salaries it would nearly be impossible for the village to match without putting an even bigger burden on the taxpayers, he said.
LaChapelle also said too often, novice police officers receive required training while serving with one department, then quickly move on to another agency. Getting a new officer ready to go out on the street can cost roughly $50,000 – a total that village taxpayers pay to essentially subsidize an officer who leaves without giving the village suitable recompense, he said.
“The (taxpayers) can’t keep paying to send people to school,” LaChapelle said, calling the situation “a losing thing for the village.”
“There’s no dedication no more,” he said, noting he spent decades on the village police force.
