TechnoDave
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City cuts police force, turns to sheriff
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
TORAINE NORRIS
News staff writer
The City of Graysville eliminated its police force Tuesday and turned to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department for policing.
Sheriff deputies began patrolling city streets last night following the unanimous vote by the City Council. City officials said the decision will save the city substantial money.
Five deputies will be assigned to the city. One officer, working 40 hours a week, will cost Graysville $78,000 a year. The deputies' responsibilities will be dictated by the mayor and council.
Graysville's police chief, four full-time officers and one part-time officer are losing their jobs. They will be offered a chance to apply for a transfer to the Sheriff's Department if they meet state certification, officials said.
The Sheriff's Department will provide detectives, evidence collection and vice and narcotics policing to Graysville. Graysville will no longer have to operate a jail. It won't need a city prosecutor or judge.
Mayor Doug Brewer told a standing-room-only crowd at City Hall that contracting with the Sheriff's Department will save Graysville thousands of dollars. "We could save possibly in the neighborhood of $250,000 a year."
Capt. Mark Persall, patrol commander for the Sheriff Department's Birmingham division, said Graysville's agreement will be for an eight-month trial run to officially begin Feb. 1. The city will then have the option of either returning to its own police force or signing a longer agreement with the county.
Graysville joins Center Point, Clay and Pinson in contracting police services with the Sheriff's Department. Several cities in Shelby County also contract services with that county's sheriff, Persall said.
"It's becoming more common," he said.
Brewer said one of the problems Graysville faced was that it could not keep officers from leaving for higher pay in other cities. The decision did not pass without some residents' questioning everything from the level of policing the deputies will provide to the financial health of the city.
The Rev. Thomas Rowe said he and other residents were given little time to mull the possibility.
"There are a whole lot of questions that are going unanswered," Rowe said. "This hasn't been discussed. There should have been a meeting like this before."
Brewer said the decision has been in discussion for weeks.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
TORAINE NORRIS
News staff writer
The City of Graysville eliminated its police force Tuesday and turned to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department for policing.
Sheriff deputies began patrolling city streets last night following the unanimous vote by the City Council. City officials said the decision will save the city substantial money.
Five deputies will be assigned to the city. One officer, working 40 hours a week, will cost Graysville $78,000 a year. The deputies' responsibilities will be dictated by the mayor and council.
Graysville's police chief, four full-time officers and one part-time officer are losing their jobs. They will be offered a chance to apply for a transfer to the Sheriff's Department if they meet state certification, officials said.
The Sheriff's Department will provide detectives, evidence collection and vice and narcotics policing to Graysville. Graysville will no longer have to operate a jail. It won't need a city prosecutor or judge.
Mayor Doug Brewer told a standing-room-only crowd at City Hall that contracting with the Sheriff's Department will save Graysville thousands of dollars. "We could save possibly in the neighborhood of $250,000 a year."
Capt. Mark Persall, patrol commander for the Sheriff Department's Birmingham division, said Graysville's agreement will be for an eight-month trial run to officially begin Feb. 1. The city will then have the option of either returning to its own police force or signing a longer agreement with the county.
Graysville joins Center Point, Clay and Pinson in contracting police services with the Sheriff's Department. Several cities in Shelby County also contract services with that county's sheriff, Persall said.
"It's becoming more common," he said.
Brewer said one of the problems Graysville faced was that it could not keep officers from leaving for higher pay in other cities. The decision did not pass without some residents' questioning everything from the level of policing the deputies will provide to the financial health of the city.
The Rev. Thomas Rowe said he and other residents were given little time to mull the possibility.
"There are a whole lot of questions that are going unanswered," Rowe said. "This hasn't been discussed. There should have been a meeting like this before."
Brewer said the decision has been in discussion for weeks.
). Santa Rosa is the county seat and has about half the county population of 500,000. The original plan was to consolidate the dispatch services of Santa Rosa, the S.O., and the five other cities with their own PD's. The S.O. provided contract law enforcement for the remaining three cities in the county. In the case of two of those cities, it involved a fight very much like what was being said in the story. 
