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Orion trustees are considering a proposal to establish a police department.
Trustee Dale Stiles has proposed hiring a police chief and a full-time officer to cover two shifts. Part-time officers would fill some shifts, providing the same coverage Orion now has.
His proposal would cost about $41,000 less than the village pays the Henry County Sheriff’s Department for three full-time officers.
Under the contract with the county, the village could save about $63,000 by cutting one of the fulltimers, Henry County Sheriff Jim Padilla said.
“We don’t have 24-hour protection now,” Orion resident Russ Woodley said. “Wouldn’t it be beneficial to save $63,000 even if we don’t have three full-time officers? There are times we don’t have an officer on duty now.”
“The only reason Dale is even considering the possible police change is financial,” Village President Jim Cooper said. “The ultimate goal is to have the best coverage for the dollar that we can.”
Orion officials have no problems with the deputies assigned to the village, Cooper said.
“Joe Femali is exceptional,” he said. “The only way our officers are better are if they move here.”
Femali, the day officer in Orion, received the Friend of Education award from the Orion Education Association on Tuesday, May 31, according to Village Clerk Lori Sampson.
Orion last had its own police department 33 years ago.
Padilla, Chief Deputy Jeff Happach and Femali attended Monday’s meeting to address the board.
“I would have to lose the contract,” Padilla said. “We work together well.”
Padilla said he understood the trustees’ desire to save money. The sheriff’s department has a tight budget and may have to lay off personnel.
Under the contract, the county provides investigative services at no cost to the village, Padilla said. With its own department, Orion would have to pay for those.
Cooper asked if the county is going to start charging for calls placed to the sheriff’s department.
The county board pressured former Sheriff Gib Cady to begin charging a fee for each call the dispatchers handled from villages with their own departments, Padilla said.
Rock Island County assesses a fee of $3.50 per call, Happach said. Orion residents made 1,034 calls in 2010.
As long as Orion contracts with the county for police coverage, the village would not have to pay a fee for calls, Padilla said.
The sheriff said he would oppose imposing a fee, and he will not suggest the idea to the county board, but the county is looking at new revenue sources.
Orion trustees are considering a proposal to establish a police department.
Trustee Dale Stiles has proposed hiring a police chief and a full-time officer to cover two shifts. Part-time officers would fill some shifts, providing the same coverage Orion now has.
His proposal would cost about $41,000 less than the village pays the Henry County Sheriff’s Department for three full-time officers.
Under the contract with the county, the village could save about $63,000 by cutting one of the fulltimers, Henry County Sheriff Jim Padilla said.
“We don’t have 24-hour protection now,” Orion resident Russ Woodley said. “Wouldn’t it be beneficial to save $63,000 even if we don’t have three full-time officers? There are times we don’t have an officer on duty now.”
“The only reason Dale is even considering the possible police change is financial,” Village President Jim Cooper said. “The ultimate goal is to have the best coverage for the dollar that we can.”
Orion officials have no problems with the deputies assigned to the village, Cooper said.
“Joe Femali is exceptional,” he said. “The only way our officers are better are if they move here.”
Femali, the day officer in Orion, received the Friend of Education award from the Orion Education Association on Tuesday, May 31, according to Village Clerk Lori Sampson.
Orion last had its own police department 33 years ago.
Padilla, Chief Deputy Jeff Happach and Femali attended Monday’s meeting to address the board.
“I would have to lose the contract,” Padilla said. “We work together well.”
Padilla said he understood the trustees’ desire to save money. The sheriff’s department has a tight budget and may have to lay off personnel.
Under the contract, the county provides investigative services at no cost to the village, Padilla said. With its own department, Orion would have to pay for those.
Cooper asked if the county is going to start charging for calls placed to the sheriff’s department.
The county board pressured former Sheriff Gib Cady to begin charging a fee for each call the dispatchers handled from villages with their own departments, Padilla said.
Rock Island County assesses a fee of $3.50 per call, Happach said. Orion residents made 1,034 calls in 2010.
As long as Orion contracts with the county for police coverage, the village would not have to pay a fee for calls, Padilla said.
The sheriff said he would oppose imposing a fee, and he will not suggest the idea to the county board, but the county is looking at new revenue sources.
Padilla said he had two problems with Orion having its own police department.
“My biggest concerns would be, number one, the caliber of people applying for the position,” Padilla said.
“The other thing is the politics.”
The sheriff’s department provides professionally trained, well-educated officers for Orion, Padilla said. They are hired only after thorough background checks.
With its own department, Orion would receive applications from young officers who would work one or two years before moving on, or retired officers who want to work a little longer.
In other words, the village would constantly be having to hire officers, Padilla said.
Other communities, such as Colona, are having trouble finding qualified officers, he said. They can’t find the money to hire enough officers.
Paul Dick, a former sheriff’s deputy who worked in Orion and now works at Black Hawk College, said it will be hard to get part-time officers to come to Orion for $10 to $12 an hour when they can work at the i wireless Center for $50 an hour.
Annawan has trouble finding part-timers one or two days a week, but Orion would need them five to seven days a week, Femali said.
When he need a part-timer now, he puts a notice on the board at the sheriff’s office, he said.
“Guys come over to show what they can do because they want a full-time position on road patrol,” Femali said.
According to the sheriff, his department avoids politics because it has merit rules and a merit board to review disciplinary cases, as well as a contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, the union that represents deputies.
Henry County also has procedures and policies, which Orion would have to set up, Padilla said.
Trustee Jamie Lawson said Orion ought to be able to manage its own police department better than other villages, such as Cordova, have managed theirs.
A lack of leadership is the reason villages have problems with their police department, Stiles said.
The only trustee who remembered when Orion had its own police department, Robert “Deano” O’Leary, disagreed.
He said Orion had good people, intelligent people, on its board and still had “worthless police chiefs and officers.”
Cooper said Port Byron, Carbon Cliff and Andalusia also had issues with their own police departments and contracted with the county for coverage.
“This is a cost savings, and we don’t even want to look at it,” Lawson said.
One reason to drop the contract with Henry County is that Orion has no say in negotiating it, Stiles said.
“It’s a two-page contract, and we’re paying a quarter of a million dollars for a two-page contract,” he said.
Orion can have a say, Padilla said.
Trustee Mel Drucker said he had been on the board 16 years and never received as many calls as he has gotten about this issue.
“People stop me in the street to say, ‘Are you crazy? There’s nothing wrong with the current system,’” he said.
A couple of people have even said they like what Orion has and it is okay if it costs more.
Former trustee Jeremy Coulter said everyone he talks to is happy with the service Orion receives from the sheriff’s department.
Stiles said he was happy, too.
Trustee Roger Peterson said not one taxpayer had told him they favored the proposal for an Orion police department.
Stiles said people tell him they want the change.
Residents complain about what it costs to live in Orion, Lawson said.
The sheriff assured trustees that even if Orion had its own police department, the county would still respond to emergency calls when an Orion officer is not on duty. Also, the county would respond to non-emergency calls, but it might be a few hours before a deputy arrived.
