Sheriff’s office stretching resources to take over patrol of local village suspending police dept.

WHIO Staff
·2 min read
5

In just days, a small Clark County community will lose its police force.

As News Center 7 reported earlier this week, South Vienna is suspending its police department. The village said it couldn’t hire or keep the police officers necessary to keep the department running.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Local community suspends police department, turns to Sheriff’s Office starting Jan. 1

In its replacement, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office will be stretching its resources to help patrol the community, a process they began back in April but will completely take over in January. A deputy will be assigned to the village for 40 hours a week.

“Just because it says 40 hours a week doesn’t mean they’re not going to be patrolling if there (are) issues,” Chuck Comp, of South Vienna, said.

Some people, like Theo High, have some concerns.

“They might not be able to be as effective as they need to be so I mean, I’m just not sure how effective that’ll be,” High said.

As seen on News Center 7 at 5:00, Malik Patterson spoke to Clark County Sheriff’s Office Major Michael Young about the change and the staffing issues the sheriff’s office has also seen.

“We have been at a struggle point multiple times over the last few years,” Young said.

>> RELATED: Just never know;’ Local community resident voices concerns about police department suspension

He told News Center 7 that the office had issues with pay, as well as recruiting and retention of deputies. Still, he’s confident in the other deputies and the work they’ll put in with this extended role.

“We’re going to be that bridge for the residents of South Vienna and for the mayor out there,” Young explained.

Comp said he thinks being close to major cities like Columbus and Dayton impacts the village’s ability to retain officers.

“South Vienna’s competing with Dayton, Columbus, you know larger cities for police officers and you know they’re short too,” Comp said.

Despite the upcoming change, the door is still open to bring police back to South Vienna. Talks about bringing the police department back to the village will happen next year. There is no timeframe yet, but the village mayor speaks to the sheriff’s office frequently.