Article

2018-11-23 -War on Police-

[Bearing Arms] A lot of small towns don’t have precisely large police departments. My father was a chief of police for a department that, after a while, was pretty much just him, so I’ve seen it sort of up close and personal. Frankly, I suspect anyone with ties to a small town has.

Sometimes, a city will allow their department to dwindle to almost nothing as the cash-strapped community opts not to fill vacancies. What you don’t often see is the city deciding to fire their entire department, especially in a hinky manner as one Missouri town did.

The last police officer in the tiny Cass County town of Garden City was fired Monday as he arrived at the office.

"I was met by the mayor, a sheriff’s deputy and an alderman and handed termination papers," said 50-year-old Tom Albers, an 18 year veteran of the department.

The letter simply said "The City of Garden City Board of Alderman held an Emergency Executive Closed Session Meeting on November 15, 2018. Your employment with the City is hereby suspended without pay indefinitely."

November 15th was Thursday, the day after the city laid off the other seven members of the department. Albers said he was told at the time that he was being kept on as a one-man department. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Garden City Mayor Daniel Cantrell said it was Albers job "to continue to police our City." However, it is now clear the city decided to fire Albers last week and tell him about it Monday.

Perhaps the worst part is that the city is claiming that the officers won’t be entitled to unemployment benefits.

Albers said his former officers were all told they would be eligible for unemployment benefits. He said he is unsure if being "suspended indefinitely without pay" will allow him to collect unemployment.

Law enforcement in the city will now be handled by the Sheriff’s Department, at the cost of $45 per hour per deputy to cover the community. It makes you wonder how much it cost to have their department on a per hour basis.

Albers argues that the new arrangement will increase response times, which it may well do.

As for the unemployment question, my take is, never trust the employer when they say you aren’t entitled to unemployment. They rarely have your best interests at heart when they tell you that. Instead, they need to take it to a third party and let them evaluate whether or not they’re entitled or not.

I’m not going to lie, something about this whole mess stinks to high heavens.

Posted by Besoeker 2018-11-23 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1 Look, if they fired them all at once there's a reason for it. Likely corruption.

Posted by Herb McCoy 2018-11-23 01:07|| 2018-11-23 01:07|| Front Page Top

#2 Admittedly the news is a limited filter, but one gets the impression that Missouri is a rather messed up place.

Posted by SteveS 2018-11-23 06:05|| 2018-11-23 06:05|| Front Page Top

#3 Herb. Not corrupt enough?

Posted by Richard Aubrey 2018-11-23 07:52|| 2018-11-23 07:52|| Front Page Top

#4 It's what happens when you can't make payroll.

Posted by Besoeker 2018-11-23 07:53|| 2018-11-23 07:53|| Front Page Top

#5 Demo: Rural, 1628 residents

prolly cheaper to have County Sheriff patrol

Posted by Frank G 2018-11-23 08:47|| 2018-11-23 08:47|| Front Page Top

#6 Garden City, MO population = 1630. How many police would they need for a community this small? Firing the entire police force might not be such a big deal? Many small communities and unincorporated towns don't have a police force.

Posted by JohnQC 2018-11-23 08:54|| 2018-11-23 08:54|| Front Page Top

#7 I would guess paying for the sheriff office by the hour would be accounted for as an 'expense' - a difference accounting column than a police force budget. Might also make it easier to skim off more than a few bucks...
(And no, I am not an accountant and didn't stay in a Holiday Inn last night - offer any corrections).

Posted by CrazyFool 2018-11-23 09:51|| 2018-11-23 09:51|| Front Page Top

#8 prolly cheaper to have County Sheriff patrol

That'd be my guess but it's no reason to treat the former officers so shabbily.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2018-11-23 12:55|| 2018-11-23 12:55|| Front Page Top

#9 Early acknowledgement of pension issues?

Posted by Procopius2k 2018-11-23 13:43|| 2018-11-23 13:43|| Front Page Top

#10 Corrupt cops deserve to be treated shabbily. They abuse our trust and give the far left something to point to.

The usual ratio of police to people is 500:1. A town this size needs 3, not 9. With 9 they find themselves idle and in danger of layoffs. So what do they do? Start fining the local population to justify their employment. "See, we generate a profit!"

Only law enforcement is supposed to enforce the laws. It's not a profit center for government. Someone likely realized this and arrived at the logical conclusion. Just pay the sheriffs, it's not only cheaper, but the sheriffs actually enforce the law instead of regarding themselves as revenue generators.

Win for the people.

Posted by Herb McCoy 2018-11-23 13:53|| 2018-11-23 13:53|| Front Page Top

#11 I would hope something called 'due process' took place in Garden City.

Posted by Besoeker 2018-11-23 13:58|| 2018-11-23 13:58|| Front Page Top

#12 $45 per hour per deputy ($90K/year/deputy) is cheap once benefits and retirement benefits are factored in.

Posted by Whinetle Sneatch8884 2018-11-23 16:23|| 2018-11-23 16:23|| Front Page Top

#13 Garden City police chief believes he was suspended for speaking out on layoffs

Garden City Mayor Daniel Cantrell said the chief’s suspension is “pending on an investigation,” WDAF reports. The nature of that investigation was not released.

Posted by Woodrow 2018-11-23 19:07|| 2018-11-23 19:07|| Front Page Top

#14 Lets see 24 hours in a day. That would take 3 eight hour shifts. 3 officers per shift would make it 24 officers plus a fill in officer for sickness vacations and what have you.

Posted by Snavimble Bucket1794 2018-11-23 19:23|| 2018-11-23 19:23|| Front Page Top

#15 Up here in Michigan, a regional town of about 60,000 (Pontiac) went bankrupt a few years back, and fired their entire police and fire departments, and paid the county to take over. The county is often just as capable, if not more so, and towns need far fewer police than they need. Good riddance to them. Now at least a few won't suck up a pension and will have to get jobs that add to the economy instead of subtract. By the way, this county has over a hundred thousand people, which means that they probably won't even have to hire any extra people to handle policing in a town of under two thousand.

Posted by Vernal Hatrack2366 2018-11-23 22:23|| 2018-11-23 22:23|| Front Page Top

07:43 Procopius2k
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05:28 Whiskey Mike
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