ST. PARIS, Champaign County — A community discussing the possibility of disbanding its police department may have an answer soon.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, the Village of St. Paris council wants to get rid of the police department to save money, but residents aren’t too sure about that.
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They don’t believe disbanding the police department will save the village money because council members haven’t provided a legitimate estimate of savings.
“It’s really not personal to me. I’m a numbers person, and these creative numbers that councilman Joe Curran came up with, they don’t work,” St. Paris resident Tony Whitman said.
Whitman said Curran provided a list of estimated savings, but it didn’t add up.
“He presented this as saving the village $71,000 a year, but it’s actually going to cost us $12,000 a year more,” Whitman said.
Residents said they aren’t agreeing to this change until they get legitimate numbers.
“I’ve got some land to sell down south, that I’d like to sell to you, but you cannot see it until you buy it. That’s what we’re getting from you,” St. Paris resident Betty Smith said.
Whitman said he’s already noticed a lack of police presence in the village.
About eight weeks ago, he called 911 after the alarm at his bike shop went off.
”I got down there, I searched the building, waited 20 minutes, nobody showed up. So I called the alarm company, and he said, just disregard them,” Whitman said. “So it comes down to, do you want a two to five-minute response or a 20-minute to maybe never response?”
Village council members refused to talk to News Center 7 during the meeting on Monday.
They did say the council will make their decision on the police department at the next meeting, on Dec. 16.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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