No LEO Coverage Overnight - Washington County, Indiana

[firecadet613]

Don't think I saw this posted yet.



Anarchy or will the criminals be worried that folks will take the law into their own hands?

 

[ancjr]

They say ISP will fill in.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Seems like rather than leaving an entire block of time completely uncovered it would be better to cut back some across the entire day.

 

[ancjr]

In other local random news, I saw 3 new Police Chargers pull into the local Rapid Fired Pizza just after 11 today. Still had temp tags and no department markings. Later, the parking lot at Cheddar Depot was chock full of ISP cruisers. They were talking about fishing all sitting around the big table up front.

 

[1nderbeard]

"No one is coming, it's up to us"

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

Just get all the dads with 16 year old daughters to patrol the county. No one would dare step out of line.

 

[ancjr]

Just get all the dads with 16 year old daughters to patrol the county. No one would dare step out of line.

If that were true, they'd be doing it now, on the payroll.

 

[Brad69]

The “rural“ people are on our own. Always have been it would take a deputy an hour to get to some places in the southern counties.

You better arm yourself.

 

[WebSnyper]

Seems like rather than leaving an entire block of time completely uncovered it would be better to cut back some across the entire day.

He's clearly fed up with the council and tired of trying to work things out and pushing his deputies to the max and has drawn a line in the sand to get the council to pony up more salary $. Can't say I blame him.

 

[Peacekeeper3073]

Wonder how many deputies are assigned to the office from 8a-4p and off weekends ?

 

[foszoe]

Wonder how many deputies are assigned to the office from 8a-4p and off weekends ?

If you're already poorly paid, messing with hours probably won't help much

 

[Peacekeeper3073]

Wonder how many deputies are assigned to the office from 8a-4p and off weekends ?

If you're already poorly paid, messing with hours probably won't help much

I agree. What I was getting at is most of the departments in my area load up the office during the week and the street numbers suffer at times.

 

[KellyinAvon]

The “rural“ people are on our own. Always have been it would take a deputy an hour to get to some places in the southern counties.

You better arm yourself.

Salem has a Police Department. Campbellsburg has a Town Marshall, I figure Pekin has a Town Marshall as well. Hardinsburg is no longer a town, Fredricksburg was no longer a town back in the 90s.

The rest of the County? It's not the same Washington County I left in 86. The folks out in the country? Those folks are gun owners and they will take care of business if needed.

 

[indyjohn]

Wonder how many deputies are assigned to the office from 8a-4p and off weekends ?

If you're already poorly paid, messing with hours probably won't help much

The part of the article you glossed over Peacekeeper is how his staff is currently displaced - out on disability, on partial schedule, 3 open spots, active staff working longer than safe shifts.

foszoe, you are correct. Washington county is below average pay compared to surrounding nearby counties. He can't keep help, let alone recruit new talent.

This bothers me alot. Not for my safety, but for my retired neighbor lady, and all the other residents of Owen county that don't have the necessary means to protect themselves and their loved ones when things go bad. I said Owen county because that is where we plan to "retire" to as soon as we can and they are potentially in the same boat. I first saw this article on social media where an Owen county resident posted it and warned "Be careful, this could be us next!" Rural counties have a challenge on many fronts: Infrastructure, Roads, Law Enforcement, etc. Because a majority of the residents have lower incomes and the county cannot collect enough taxes to fund the rising costs of those basic services. We all know inciting the government to step in and help is really not a sustainable solution. So this topic bothers me alot because I don't know how it can be fixed under the current economic circumstances.

Like Brad said - "You better arm yourself".

 

[ancjr]

Any thugs looking to capitalize on this definitely need to be shot.

 

[k12lts]

This started when the state increased the starting salary for State Police officers to $70,000. Then the State Police started actively recruiting current officers from small local departments that couldn't compete with that pay.

 

[Peacekeeper3073]

The part of the article you glossed over Peacekeeper is how his staff is currently displaced - out on disability, on partial schedule, 3 open spots, active staff working longer than safe shifts.

foszoe, you are correct. Washington county is below average pay compared to surrounding nearby counties. He can't keep help, let alone recruit new talent.

This bothers me alot. Not for my safety, but for my retired neighbor lady, and all the other residents of Owen county that don't have the necessary means to protect themselves and their loved ones when things go bad. I said Owen county because that is where we plan to "retire" to as soon as we can and they are potentially in the same boat. I first saw this article on social media where an Owen county resident posted it and warned "Be careful, this could be us next!" Rural counties have a challenge on many fronts: Infrastructure, Roads, Law Enforcement, etc. Because a majority of the residents have lower incomes and the county cannot collect enough taxes to fund the rising costs of those basic services. We all know inciting the government to step in and help is really not a sustainable solution. So this topic bothers me alot because I don't know how it can be fixed under the current economic circumstances.

Like Brad said - "You better arm yourself".

Wasn't glossing over intentionally I was asking my question based on past experience and observation. The trend is to pack the office full and creating positions with most being a political payback. I hope this isn't the case in Washington County, sounds like it's not.

 

[firecadet613]

This started when the state increased the starting salary for State Police officers to $70,000. Then the State Police started actively recruiting current officers from small local departments that couldn't compete with that pay.

It's not just ISP, look at the cush suburban PDs around Indy, although I'm sure they mostly pull from IMPD.

70k still isn't enough for ISP (or any LEO position IMO).

The part of the article you glossed over Peacekeeper is how his staff is currently displaced - out on disability, on partial schedule, 3 open spots, active staff working longer than safe shifts.

foszoe, you are correct. Washington county is below average pay compared to surrounding nearby counties. He can't keep help, let alone recruit new talent.

This bothers me alot. Not for my safety, but for my retired neighbor lady, and all the other residents of Owen county that don't have the necessary means to protect themselves and their loved ones when things go bad. I said Owen county because that is where we plan to "retire" to as soon as we can and they are potentially in the same boat. I first saw this article on social media where an Owen county resident posted it and warned "Be careful, this could be us next!" Rural counties have a challenge on many fronts: Infrastructure, Roads, Law Enforcement, etc. Because a majority of the residents have lower incomes and the county cannot collect enough taxes to fund the rising costs of those basic services. We all know inciting the government to step in and help is really not a sustainable solution. So this topic bothers me alot because I don't know how it can be fixed under the current economic circumstances.

Like Brad said - "You better arm yourself".

It's not just that, but the extremely low population many rural counties have. When you have less than 30k residents for an entire county (much of it with a low assessed value - ag land), there isn't enough people paying into the pot, let alone their lower income.

That's not to mention, the county tax rate is much higher out here than one of the donut counties...

 

[Destro]

I retired from LE last June, but it was not uncommon for smaller towns and counties to have 0 officers and 1-2 deputies on duty for a large area.

That said, if you called 911 for a true emergency, someone was going to come. Another town/adjacent county/ISP, someone was going to respond. Rural LE in many parts of Indiana is an ad-hoc mutual aid system anyway.

 

[KellyinAvon]

This started when the state increased the starting salary for State Police officers to $70,000. Then the State Police started actively recruiting current officers from small local departments that couldn't compete with that pay.

Like I needed another reason to dislike Doug Carter.

I met you the other day at the 1500. Can't remember if where you're from came up. I grew up just south of White River/Fort Ritner in Washington County. If the river is out at Sparksville the cavalry won't be coming from Jackson County.

Growing up out there (closer to Fort Ritner than Campbellsburg) seeing a Sheriff's Department car was a rare thing. When I say rare, somebody got murdered in Bedford and they dumped the body off the bridge. Then there was the time some idiot shot his cousin (blood, not metaphorical cousin) over a catfish.

Folks who live out there? They'll take care of business if needed.