Town of 560 hopes to hire full-time cop

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Four Indiana towns were awarded U.S. Department of Justice grants to adhd constabulary officers to the communities.

The municipality of La Paz, Indiana, has not had a full-time bull successful 10 years. With its grant, the Town Council hopes to wage the wage of a caller constabulary serviceman for 3 years. About 560 radical telephone the municipality of home. The downtown consists of a bank, a liquor store, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars post. There are nary stoplights connected the main drag. A unpaid occurrence section and 1 part-time constabulary serviceman support the town. The municipality besides has 2 constabulary cars for its part-time officer.

Roger Ecker, a lifelong resident, is the Town Council president. He said that “what I deliberation is the biggest occupation for the bulk of tiny towns is the outgo of the wellness insurance. Yes, I tin spend the salary, but the outgo of wellness security continues to rise,” Ecker said.

Ten years ago, the municipality had 2 full-time constabulary officers. Both of the cops had wellness security done their spouses, which saved the municipality a ton of money. Ecker says the outgo of wellness security is astir 30% of an officer’s overall salary. When the officers retired the Town Council had nary prime but to chopped their full-time police section retired of the budget.  

La Paz is simply a thrust of much than 2 hours northbound from downtown Indianapolis. The main roadworthy done municipality is Old U.S. 31. The authorities authorities abandoned the roadworthy respective years agone and rerouted U.S. 31 eastbound of town, and that changed everything.

“We lost a lot of that traffic, which we lost a lot business, truthful it has truly deed our taxation basal and erstwhile that hap it truly drove america down to wherever we couldn’t person an serviceman full-time anymore,” Ecker said.

Last week, the municipality was awarded a $120,000 Justice Department assistance to wage for a constabulary officer. The quality was large capable to enactment the grant announcement — positive a greeting to News 8 for reporting connected it — connected a integer motion successful the beforehand gait of the occurrence department.

“The starting wage is $45,000, 2 weeks’ vacation with health insurance,” Ecker said.

The municipality had to warrant a 4th year of the salary, which Ecker says volition necessitate immoderate belt-tightening astir Town Hall.

La Paz whitethorn beryllium small, but it’s not immune to crime. In 2020, the transgression complaint spike 14% and postulation violations roseate 38% implicit the erstwhile year. Heroin usage has crept into municipality and brought with it spot crimes. In 2020, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office made adjacent to 500 runs to the town, and the part-time La Paz bull answered 8 calls. The content astir municipality is erstwhile cops are contiguous radical thin to behave better.

“It would beryllium bully to person a small beingness present truthful radical person a little fear,” said Vince Feitz, a long-time resident who added that having a bull astir keeps the less-than-honest radical away. 

Feitz besides said, “You know, successful the end, possibly it is an disbursal that possibly everybody doesn’t support, but, you cognize what, our aboriginal is our kids, and if we don’t bash thing to support them walking down the street, what bash we have? We don’t person anything.”

The caller bull volition person 3 quadrate miles of municipality to patrol, and the enactment of the Town Council. 

The assembly leader, Ecker, said the caller “police serviceman volition find thing antithetic astir La Paz than bigger communities. I deliberation they volition find much respect and I think that goes a long way.”

The Town Council president besides said helium recognizes that hiring a constabulary serviceman present is very difficult, but, if each goes well, the municipality hopes to person its archetypal full-time constabulary connected the streets in next 90 days.