St. Ignatius Town Council weighs police coverage options
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ST. IGNATIUS – The St. Ignatius Town Council will temporarily increase the hours of the town’s part-time police officer to have more coverage during the hiring process for a new chief.
The council’s decision came after three citizens voiced their concerns about lacking protection for the town in a July 1 Town Council meeting.
Dustin Burkhard of the Old Timer Café said since the departure of Police Chief Jeffrey Ferguson in June, there have been three instances of people loitering in the café parking lot after hours. The town’s sole part-time officer was able to get the people to move along two times, but he was off-duty in the third instance. The Lake County Sheriff’s Department was unable to respond for another half-hour, so Burkhard decided to shoo the people away himself.
Burkhard said he is worried about the conflict that could result if he takes matters into his own hands and a person doesn’t want to leave. He is also concerned that the hiring process for a new chief leaves the town without coverage through some of the town’s busiest celebrations, including Independence Day and Good Old Days.
“In the interim time when you are looking for a chief, please have a full-time officer,” Burkhard said. “We shouldn’t have to wait a half-hour if some of our taxes are being paid to go to the police department.”
Another town member echoed Burkhard’s concerns and said she keeps a gun at home in case the police aren’t able to make it in time.
Johanna Clark, who lives outside of city limits but works in town and sends her children to St. Ignatius schools, asked for the police budget numbers to better understand the city’s situation.
“I’m just trying to understand. There’s an issue here,” Clark said. “(The officers) keep leaving. Why do they keep leaving?”
When Ferguson left in June he lamented the department’s low wages, lack of benefits, and difficulty handling micromanagement by the town council. Ferguson lasted 15 months, and he was the latest in a revolving door of leadership over the past several years.
City council members said money issues have played a major role in the town’s ability to attract and keep officers. Department funding comes from taxes and revenue from citations.
“The town only has so much money,” Councilmember Ray Frey said. “ … Unless the town members want to pay more taxes, the town can only do what it can do.”
In the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the department paid $108,579 in wages. That year there was more than $40,000 in revenue from court fines. The department’s fine revenue peaked in the 2009-2010 fiscal year at $62,688. It has fallen precipitously since then, with the fines accounting for $5,165 in the 2012-2013 fiscal year, approximately 25 percent of what the city had anticipated in its budget.
As the revenues decreased, so did the available funding for salaries. The 2013-2014 fiscal year that ended June 30 had just less than $64,000 budgeted for salaries.
Councilwoman Annie Morigeau said even if the town had enough funding to have two full-time officers, there would still be gaps in coverage. When there isn’t an officer available, it can mean long waits for help. Morigeau knows firsthand how frustrating those waits can be; she works for the town’s volunteer-run ambulance service.
“Even when we have a cop in town, we still have to wait for a cop to come from Polson for ambulance calls or fire calls,” Morigeau said. “ …We wait for law enforcement a lot, to come from all over the county. It’s scary. It really stinks. I’ve been in multiple situations where we’re staging for gunshots or stabbings and you don’t know what’s going on. You are constantly on the phone with dispatch and they are still a half-hour out.”
Morigeau said it is a sad situation, but funding is truly a limiting factor. The town plans to work out a scheduling block for the next chief that will better serve high demand call times, the council members said.
The council plans to evaluate the five applications received for the position in the next month and begin the background check and interviewing process.
