Rationale not there for new cop shop

Inverness has made a decision to create a police department. The board feels the residents will receive equally or better service from the newly created police force for approximately $260,000 annual savings on a multimillion dollar budget. In today's world police costs often go up.

Because the Annex was too costly to renovate, Inverness built a new town hall. Where will the new police force be housed? In a renovated Annex! What changed other than we now have doubled upkeep costs?

Further, the study showed there are plenty of police officers willing to come to Inverness to serve/retire. However, there will still be contracts for outside services such as a jail, detective work, etc. The opportunity exists for more expansion and this appears to be the direction Inverness is going. Inverness built a budget surplus doing just the opposite.

A much smaller force will have times when responses to emergencies will be in jeopardy. It only takes one time to make this move very questionable. Maintaining skill levels in a low-crime area is a challenge. A larger police force with more internal competition and turn over will maintain a higher degree of readiness.

The reasons given to the public for decisions has not followed a consistent pattern. While the board has the power to make this decision, why not vote on an issue this serious? Given recent events in the area, I am a little uncomfortable going into a situation with more risk. The increased money is a very small percentage of the overall budget and we seemed to find additional money easily for what is now a questionable new building.

Arthur Rush

Inverness