Some Facts on Policing

Law Enforcement is a hot-button topic for all the out-county areas, including Stockbridge. When the Ingham County Commissioners decided to balance the budget on the back of the Sheriff's Office with sweeping cuts and elimination of road patrol, the hue and cry raised by the out-county townships fell on deaf ears. What to do?
Stockbridge Township held Town Hall meetings to inform residents of the impending cuts to their coverage. They were sparsely attended. Commissioners Randy Schafer and Steve Dougan, Sheriff Gene Wrigglesworth, Under sheriff Alan Spyke, Detective Sergeant Brian Valentine, Stockbridge Township Supervisor Paul Risner and Trustee Ed Wetherell were at the first meeting, as were approximately 30 residents. Options were discussed. Concerns were voiced. There were no easy answers.  
Conspicuously absent: anyone from the Village Council.
Subsequent Town Hall meetings were held in a mostly ignored effort by Stockbridge Township government, to inform citizens of the current policing issues and some of the options being explored. 
Still absent: anyone from the Stockbridge Village Council, Management or Police Department.
Supervisors for the Out Counties as well as residents attended County Law Enforcement Meetings and  County Comissioners meetings, all asking the County Commissioners to halt the proposed cuts to the Sheriff's Office, all to no avail.
The cuts began, and the schedule was moved back - no longer would the end date of road patrol be 2012. It was now January 2011.
The vote on the Special Assessment  failed. People who had little money to begin with decided they didn't have the average $150.00 per year for law enforcement protection. Perhaps they felt they were being strong-armed by the Commissioners. (they were, after all, paying taxes just like everybody else in the county) Whatever the reason, in Stockbridge Township at least, there were no assessment dollars to fund law enforcement.
Supervisor Paul Risner sent a letter to the Village, asking for a representative to contact the Township regarding the option of the Village Police Department policing the Township. A fact finding meeting to include estimates on cost and coverage. 
No one ever responded. 
The Village paid little or no attention to the problem of policing for the Township; after all, they had their own police department, such as it was.
The shake up caused by the elections of a new Village President and new trustees, and the subsequent resignations of the Village Manager and the Chief of Police put the Village Police Department and the cost of running it in the spotlight. The budget shortfalls and the lack of any cash reserves in the Village meant a tightening across the board. Now the Village found itself in much the same position as the Township: what to do about policing?
A Police Committee appointed by President Byrd set out on its own fact finding missions. Some of what they found was astonishing. Case in point: the cost of running the Unadilla Township Police Department versus the cost of running the Village Police Department. For example, the Village is approximately 1 square mile with a population of approximately 1200, as compared to Unadilla Township which is 34 square miles with an approximate population of 3190. 
The Village of Stockbridge Police Department (before the resignation of the Chief) employed 5 officers and patrolled (the term patrolled is used loosely here) roughly 88 hours a week (after Village employees took an 8 hour cut), at a cost of about $180,000.00.(that figure is probably much more given benefits, equipment, and costs)
The Unadilla Township Police department employs 1 part time Chief, 1 Sergeant, and 3 officers who patrol 120 hours a week, 1 investigator who works 16 hours per week, and has 3 reserve officers who donate 16 hours per week for patrol at a cost of about $200,000.
How do you account for the disparity? 
A large portion of your Law Enforcement dollars were directed to the former Police Chief, in the form of salary and benefits. 
And, you get what you pay for - or not. 
And why should you care about the Ingham County Sheriff's Office and their depleted resources? 
Who do you think had your back when your part-time Police Department was closed? 
And who do you think responded when your former Chief refused to come back to your Village to take calls? (even though that was WHY he had the patrol car to take home?)
Who responded to the latest armed robbery when your Interim Chief John Torres needed a K9 unit to track the suspect? 
And now with reductions, they aren't there like they used to be. 
You can't look to the Sheriff's Office to pick up the slack - they have (at best) 2 deputies to patrol all 446 square miles of Ingham County. They'll still come,, but it might take a while.
There are no easy answers to the question of public safety. Just ask Stockbridge Township - they have been wrestling this particular issue for two years.
Everyone wants to feel safe in their own homes and on the streets of their town. They want to know that when they lock up their businesses, they'll stay that way. They would like to think that the bicycle the 10 year old left on the front lawn will still be there in the morning.
But safety costs money. 
And that's the bottom line.


***Please note that corrections have been made to this post. The actual population of the Village is approximately 1200 residents. (the number stated previously, 600, referred to actual parcels, not people.) The hours of policing are 88 hours per week, down from the 96 hours previously spent. All employees of the Village took an 8 hour cut, with the notable exceptions of the former Manager and Chief. We are sorry for the inaccuracies and any confusion this may have caused. The Stockbridge Citizen-Herald