Jordan J. Garrison, State's Attorney | Macoupin County
Jordan J. Garrison, State's Attorney | Macoupin County
Macoupin County Ad Hoc Committee on Community Police Presence met March 25.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
I. CALL TO ORDER
PRESENT: Stayton, Klausing, Rosentreter, Reiher, Dixon, Garrison, Frericks
ABSENT: Kiel, Kahl
II. AGENDA ITEMS
1. Open Forum with Police Chiefs
Stayton welcomed the police chiefs from Palmyra, Girard, and Bunker Hill to the meeting. This meeting was to try and discuss what the committee's goal was as well as hear if there are any issues from the city perspective they should know about. He read the mission statement of the committee. With the state police cutting back patrols in the county, county deputies being limited in how many people are on a shift at any one time, and with city departments not always being able to staff 24/7, there looked to be an issue and the committee was looking to try and find a solution. The county's goal wasn't to dismantle any department or take their money. He asked the chiefs if they had anything they wanted to discuss. The Palmyra police chief said his 2 biggest issues was budget constraints as well as sometimes being a training center where they cover the employee going through the academy but then they move onto other cities or the county based off of the pay they can offer. The Girard chief said his issue was getting to be full staffed. It's hard to find people who can pass the tests required and want to work. He said this month they had covered 92% of shifts for the city. The chief of Bunker Hill said his issue was competing with departments in the Metro East that offer significantly higher pay than Bunker Hill. Stayton said that he heard Mt Olive was picking up a new officer if not 2 which would help. Stayton asked if there were any complaints about response times from the county in their area. The chiefs said they had not heard any complaints and felt the county was doing a good job. There was a discussion about if grant funding would be of an assistance to the cities and the chiefs agreed that would be good.
2. Update on grant research
Stayton said there was an individual who was interested in helping to apply for grants for law enforcement. This individual believed that the grants usually become available in June or July so that is when that would begin.
http://macoupincountyil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=3907&Inline=True
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