George looks to hire police

QUINCY — The City of George is negotiating with Quincy police to see if the city can provide an officer for patrols.

Quincy Police Chief Richard Ackerman brought up George’s request at Quincy’s last city council meeting, saying the other city is requesting help because of a few robberies and other criminal activity. George does not have a full-time police department.

“They can’t afford full-time or, obviously, their own department,” he said. “They can’t rely on the sheriff’s (office) to have anybody there real quick or even to have a deputy in the area dedicated to them because of a lack of resources on the sheriff’s side.”

The officer would work in George on his or her free time, Ackerman said, comparing the situation to officers working as security for sporting events.

“The bottom line is it would be cost-neutral to us,” he said. “No out-of-pocket expense for us and it would be win-win for us.”

In response to George’s request for a price quote, Ackerman provided them the costs for an officer and a car. The total for a six-hour shift would be $182.82. The cost does not include benefits for the officer because the officer is working extra hours.

“He’s talking maybe three or four, maybe five days a week,” the chief said. “Typically it would be in the evening hours, maybe six o’clock at night till midnight, maybe 8 o’clock at night until 2 in the morning.”

Mayor Jim Hemberry said the negotiations are still preliminary, adding the police union still needs to agree to the decision.

If the two cities can come to a long-term agreement, the city may be able to hire an additional officer, Ackerman said.

“They’d carry most of the burden, but we’d have the advantage of having one more officer on board without costing us the full cost of one more officer,” he said.

The agreement is not uncommon for Washington, he said, pointing to a small agency in the southwestern part of the state where one police force serves three cities.

If George decides to hire a Quincy police officer and it’s successful, Hemberry said the city will want a two- or three-year agreement for the service.

“That’s when we’d look at hiring somebody is when we had the guaranteed revenue,” he said. “Then if they wanted to opt out after two or three years, we’d probably be at the point where we needed an additional officer anyway.”

Councilmember Travis Wittman said he works in George and would be happy to see a police car patrolling in the area.