Village will not continue to subsidize township policing

Dear Editor,

Recently, a fire broke out in the gymnasium at Orchard Primary School. A teacher identified the blaze and pulled the alarm.

A staff member grabbed a fire extinguisher and handed it to Almont Police Officer Michael Retzler, the school resource officer, who forced entry into the gym and put the fire out before it could spread.

Students were evacuated safely. No one was hurt.

Officer Retzler was there because the Village of Almont stations a dedicated, full-time police officer in our schools. He knows the buildings, the staff, and the students.

He is there every school day, walking the halls, building relationships, and when it matters most, acting in seconds.

Every Almont Community School sits within Almont Township, outside the Village’s boundaries. The officer protecting those children is a Village of Almont police officer, provided under the same law enforcement contract that is now at risk of ending.

I am writing because residents of both the Village and the Township deserve to understand what is happening and what is at stake.

The Math

Next year’s police budget will rise to approximately $1.6 million, after the county reimburses the Village for the School Resource Officer. New body cameras, in-car cameras, and tasers are needed. Gas is up 30 percent.

A recent review found fleet maintenance costs tens of thousands above what was budgeted.

Cheap policing is an illusion; you either pay for dedicated protection now, or you pay the price in response times and lost services later.

Under the current contract, Almont Township pays $650,000 per year for dedicated police service. The Village covers the rest, meaning Village taxpayers pay more than half the cost of a police department that spends the majority of its time serving Township residents.

Over the past nine months, we have tracked every dispatched call through the CLEMIS law enforcement database.

The results are consistent: 60 percent of all dispatched police calls are in the Township.

At $650,000, the Township is paying roughly 41 cents of every dollar for 60 cents of every service. The difference, more than $300,000 every year, comes directly out of Village residents’ pockets.

For decades, Village taxpayers have subsidized police services for Township residents. We accepted that as part of being one community.

There is a difference between community partnership and being taken advantage of.

Where We Stand

The Village presented the Township with a detailed, data-driven proposal for a new contract. We included nine months of verified call data, a full budget breakdown, and a clear explanation of how the numbers were calculated.

We proposed a three-year contract with modest annual increases, the same structure as prior agreements, to give both sides predictability and avoid the kind of last-minute brinkmanship that nearly ended this partnership a year ago.

We have come to the table in good faith, prepared with real data and a genuine desire to reach a fair agreement. To date, the Township has not made a counter-offer. They have not presented data of their own. They have not put a number on paper.

Instead, we have been told to wait while the Township explores alternatives. The clock is ticking. The current contract expires June 30. We have already been through this cycle once.

Last year’s negotiations went down to the wire, created uncertainty for our officers and our community, and produced a one-year contract at the same inadequate price. We will not do that again.

What You Would Lose

Here is what concerns me most, if no agreement is reached before the current contract expires on June 30.

Township residents will lose dedicated police protection immediately. There is no backup plan that can be activated overnight.

Any alternative arrangement would take almost a year to get in place.

During that time, Township residents would have no dedicated law enforcement presence. None.

Even once an alternative is in place, what would Township residents actually get? Not full-time officers who know your roads, your neighborhoods and your families.

Deputies stretched across a vast county, providing part-time coverage to dozens of communities.

Response times measured in fractions of an hour instead of fractions of a minute.

Think about what else you would lose. Right now, a Village police officer is in your children’s school every day.

He is there at football games, at community events, at the moments that matter. That officer is there because the Village of Almont puts him there.

If this contract ends, so does that. Other communities that rely on the county for school resource coverage get an officer who stops in occasionally, not one who is there every school day, who knows every hallway, every student.

Would that kind of coverage have been enough on the Monday morning a fire broke out in a school gymnasium?

Those are questions Township residents should be asking their Board.

The Almont Police Department provides something that cannot be replicated at a discount: officers who are here, every shift, every day, dedicated to this community alone.

One Community, Fair Shares

I have great respect for the residents of Almont Township. As a Village resident I am also a Township resident. Community means everyone contributes fairly.

For too long, Village residents have carried a disproportionate burden for police services that primarily serve the Township.

The Village is not asking the Township to pay more than its share. We are asking them to stop paying less. We have the data to prove it. A fair contract reflects that reality.

We remain at the table. We remain willing to work toward a solution that protects every resident in this community.

We are asking the Township Board to meet us there, with real numbers, real engagement, and the same concern for their residents’ safety that we have shown for decades.

If you value the Almont Police Department, whether you live in the Village or the Township, I encourage you to make your voice heard. Show up. Call them. Ask what their plan is. Ask why they still have not produced a fair answer. This community deserves answers.

—Tim Dyke, President
Village of Almont