Community upset after village leaders recommend disbanding police department

ST. PARIS — People in a local village are fighting to keep their police department.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, St. Paris Mayor Susan Price proposed that the village dissolve its police department and enter a community policing plan with the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.

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Some council members said this would save the village thousands of dollars.

“We looked at that in St. Paris, we priced it out. We determined we can actually save a few bucks. I mean $70,000 for a town like this buys a lot of curbs and sidewalks,” St. Paris Council Member Joe Curran said.

Curran said it’s hard to recruit new police officers in the village.

“Our pay, never been at the top of the chain. We can raise our pay and that can help the turnover problem somewhat. But we still don’t offer upward mobility that other departments have,” Curran said.

Curran said the village policing issue will be addressed in eight weeks.

News Center 7 reached out to St. Paris Police Chief Eric Smith about this proposal but did not receive a response.

Smith is currently on administrative leave.

He had charges dismissed against him for open carrying a firearm with his police badge, while off-duty at the Champaign County Fairgrounds

The Sheriff’s Office will temporarily patrol the village until the next budget meeting.

News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.

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