Littleton
PERRY TOWNSHIP — Standing room only turned into waiting outside at the March 14 meeting at the Perry Township Administration Building.
Township residents and other interested people attended the meeting to find out the fate of the township’s police department.
However, trustees Missy Mears and Zach Music weren’t going to be making any decisions concerning a rumored decision on doing away with the police department. (The third trustee, Jason Hartshorn, recently resigned, leaving a position to be filled.)
The immediate concerns came about after neighboring Police Chief Curtis Hensley of the Village of New Lebanon issued a proposal dated Jan. 9 to Perry trustees announcing a plan for his department to assume responsibility for “police and safety services to Perry Township.”
Acceptance of such a proposal would mean the current Perry Township Police Department would be dissolved.
A copy of the proposal had found its way to social media, where Perry Chief Tim Littleton maintains he first heard of it.
Littleton then sent a press release to local news outlets regarding the situation, explaining his reasons for not dissolving the current Perry Township police department.
As word spread around the township, residents became concerned about their police coverage and many attended the meeting while others watched it by Zoom.
Currently, the Perry Township Police Department operates 24/7 with five full-time officers and three part-time officers, covering more than 36 square miles and serving some 6,000 residents.
Hensley states that his department could provide one dedicated unit to Perry 24 hours a day and could utilize a second officer to provide coverage for no fewer than 20 additional hours of the day with additional staff.
The issue, according to trustees Mears and Music, is that they have not actually discussed the proposal. However, now that it has been brought up, Music said, they will have to discuss it.
“We shouldn’t even have to be here talking about it,” Music said. “But, now that it’s out, we have to.”
Both trustees said during Tuesday’s meeting they are concerned about shifts going uncovered, and the budget needed to fund the department.
“When you get a proposal from someone that guarantees no increases for very good foreseeable future, time to come, I think we probably should have looked at this sooner,” Music said.
Under the proposal, the township would pay for New Lebanon’s services using the budget already set for the Perry Township Police Department, which comes from a police levy passed by voters in 2018.
Chief Littleton said he’s worried about the safety of residents under the proposed plan.
“We are rural out here and we’re very prone to thefts, whether it be catalytic converters, home invasions, we have that out here,” Littleton said
Trustees said during Tuesday’s meeting they are concerned about shifts going uncovered, and the budget needed to fund the department.
The next regular Perry Township meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11, at the Perry Township Administration Building, 1025 Johnsville Brookville Road, Brookville.
