TRG: LOYAL, GREENWOOD MAY STUDY POLICE CONSOLIDATION
Saturday, March 18th, 2006 -- 6:36 AM
Another Greenwood/Loyal consolidation study to tell you about? but this one doesn?t involve school.This week?s [B]TRG[/B] reports Greenwood recently contacted Loyal to see if they could send one of their police officers to cover shifts as they?re short an officer. Loyal said ?no?, but the request may prompt a more in-depth study of merging the two departments.
Loyal Mayor Randy Anderson said the cities could explore operating a police department similar to the shared Abbotsford-Colby Police Department. Under such an arrangement, a 5-6 officer police force would be overseen by a joint Police Commission.
There could be a potential cost-savings for things like staff and squad cars.
Loyal Police Chief Matthew Kubista recently told the Police Committee there were some potential drawbacks as well: Loyal and Greenwood are eight miles apart, where Abbotsford and Colby are virtually connected, there may be less coverage if an officer has to split time between the two communities and there might be reduced back-up help.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.