By: Lydia Crawley The Parsons Advocate
There may soon be men in uniform patrolling the streets of Davis. The Town of Davis has been in talks with Tucker County to acquire off duty Tucker County Sheriff Deputies as Town Law Enforcement Officers. Mayor Al Tomson met with the Tucker County Commission, Tucker County Sheriff Jake Kopek and other County officials April 9th to discuss the matter following the Tucker County Commission meeting.
Tomson said that the recommendation that came out of the meeting was that the County furnish the cruiser, uniforms, supplies, and assorted equipment and Davis would create their own police force utilizing off duty Sheriff Deputies. While the equipment and manpower would be supplied by the County, the deputies would be working for and paid by the Town of Davis while on duty.
“I’m going to work on that recommendation and see if we can bring it to fruition,” Tomson said.
Tomson said that Thomas also shares many of the same law enforcement issues that Davis has and has considered approaching Thomas Mayor Jody Flanagan to see if the City would by interested in a police share program with the Town of Davis.
“The other thing is I am going to talk with Jody Flanagan in Thomas and see if there might be interest in maybe sharing because they have a lot of the same issues that we have,” Tomson said.
While the Town police force would be enforcing such things as traffic laws, since the deputies would be working for the Town, they would be capable of enforcing Town ordinances as well, Tomson said. Many of the ordinances already on the books have lacked enforcement due to not have the manpower to do so, the Council has debated in recent months. The formation of a police force would assist in such efforts.
“The goal is really because they would be working for the Town, they can actually enforce Town ordinances, too,” Tomson said. “So its not just a matter of someone speeding 50 miles an hour down William Avenue. They can also write a ticket for someone who has grass that is this long in their yard. So there are some benefits for doing it that way and we would have a little bit more say in what they say and how they do it.”
