Harlan Police Department "unification"

 

Recently, the City council of Harlan voted to make the Halarlan Police department go countywide. This means there will be no more police department, the only form of law enforcement in Harlan will be the Sherrif and his deputies. This is a very controversial issue in Harlan and Shelby county. There are lots of people that think that it should stay the way that it was, let’s explore these reasons.

 

First, If/when this doesn't work, and the city wants its police department back, who will pay for it? They will need all of the equipment, they will have to increase certain officers' pay for Sergeant, Asst. Chief, and Chief. The Taxpayers will be the ones paying for the reconstruction of the police department. Also, in Salt Lake, they had a "unified law enforcement system. But they are now wanting their old ways back and are switching to a police and sheriff's office separately. 

 

Secondly, there will not be nearly as much coverage in town when the deputies are able to be countywide instead of staying in town. There is no promise that there will be someone near the city all the time. For example, if something big happens in a different town inside of Shelby county, there will be ZERO coverage in Harlan. With a police department, there is coverage all the time.

 

Third, there will be a loss of jobs in the city. The current police officers are NOT guaranteed a job at the sheriff's department, and two won't get a job anyways. The city will no longer run the police department. This makes you wonder if the high-up people in the city such as the mayor and city administrator need pay cuts because part of their job just got handed over to the county.

 

Fourth, it is not cost-effective and they are not really unified They will have two fewer people than a fully staffed police and sheriff department would. And it would cost around the same amount to do it if not cost more. Also, how are they "truly unified" if they are still in separate buildings for offices? It is still similar to a police department and sheriff's office because of this reason.

 

Questions:

Do you think that the police department should be unified with the sheriff's office?

Why or why not?

What do you think could be some pros/cons of this unification process?

You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!

Join History 360

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies

  • I think either way, unitifcation or not, it is good. The cops right now are good and do good to keep us safe and protected. I think that if the cops leave town, there could be some bad accidents, and cops may not be near when someone needs them. Overall, I think keeping sherriff and cops would be the safest. 

    • I agree, If the cops leave there could be some accidents that could have been prevented due to lack of coverage in town.

  • I think it would probably be best for thing to stay the way they are now. There may be a bad inncident if there is no cops in town. I think if they do unify there will be more state troopers or atleast a sherriff or two in town. I think either way would be fairly safe, but having sheriff and police officers would probably be the safest.

  • In my opinion they should keep things how they are right now. I think that not having any police in town is not safe. Having more than one department in the county allows that when there is any major problem they can help each other and can solve things easier. 

  • I don't think that the police department and sheriff office should be unified. If we are losing police and taking the rest away from the biggest town in Shelby county, there might start to be crime and there will be less first responders. Also, if it's not more cost-effecient, why do it.

    • Exactly. Why spend more money to have fewer people, less coverage, and less safety?

  • I feel like if this happens there will be alot less law in harlan. If you are a criminal this is good because you can get away with alot more things. I think police should be the same as it is now. 

  • I feel like if this happens then there will be less law enforcement in Harlan. That could be good or bad based on who you are. I think the police situation should stay the same because it is getting rid of jobs for the cops who don't want to be deputies. 

    • I agree, the cops that don't want to be deputies have to go somewhere else.

  • I think that everything should stay the way it is. I feel many people in Harlan and the surrounding towns will complain and there will be several issues. I mean if they do this there will be more "supervision" in towns. There is so much you have to go through to unify all the cops in town and what happens if they want to go back to "normal?" Its going to be a lot of money and hassle. 

This reply was deleted.
eXTReMe Tracker