Hampton disbands entire police department
“It seems like dollars and cents mean more to our board than the protection of the police,” says Benjamin Wilson, a Hampton resident.
A unanimous vote Monday night in Hampton disbanded the village’s police department. About 100 people showed up for the meeting at Village Hall. Despite the board saying the agenda was posted on Friday, one Hampton resident was frustrated with what he called a lack of communication.
“The biggest issue I think I had, and many of the other Hampton residents had, was that this was thrown together last minute and kind of shoved down our throat with zero warning or notice,” says Wilson.
“We all showed up there and voiced our opinions but the board members already made their decision up and our input didn’t matter to them,” Wilson continued.
“It was frustrating that something so important didn’t seem to matter to the village board at all,” Wilson added.
There are about a dozen officers, including the police chief, impacted by this decision.
The Rock Island County Sheriff’s Office will take over all police calls. Rock Island County Sheriff Darren Hart says because of staffing shortages, the sheriff’s office has been handling around 50 percent of the police call load for Hampton already over the last several months.
“We knew that we needed to assist them and we’ve been doing that with calls of service for quite some time,” Hart says.
Hart also says Hampton residents should not be worried.
“You will have law enforcement coverage in your village dedicated to the law enforcement needs and the community needs of Hampton. We have pledged to that,” says Hart. “I feel extremely confident that we can provide that or we would not agree to such an agreement. I expect that many of the officers will work up in the village of Hampton as we work towards a contract agreement here in the next couple of months.”
Hart also says there will be opportunities for those laid off.
“We’re looking for the next new recruit,” says Hart. “We always are here at the sheriff’s office. I have positions to fill for the future. If any of those officers are looking for a continued career in law enforcement, I would welcome an individual to apply for the sheriff’s office, absolutely.”
