In Small Louisiana Village, No One Wants To Be Police Chief

 

PALMETTO, La. (AP) — A small Louisiana town is trying to figure out what to do after no one volunteered to run for police chief.

KATC-TV reports that the police chief in Palmetto, a village of about 170 people, moved out of the village, meaning he can't run for re-election.

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But no one threw their hat in the ring to run for the job in the recent qualifying period.

Alderman Guyton Budden tells the station he and others put the word out about the job through social media and by talking to folks.

"Nobody's come to the plate, no. Nobody's interested," he said.

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The current chief, David Krull, is the village's only police officer. His term ends in January.

Some residents are worried about what will happen to their village without a police chief.

"There's a lot of really good people here and don't need a lot of police protection. But when we do, it's concerning that we can't pick up that phone and call somebody that is close by," said resident Sharron Dunn.

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Budden says the board of Alderman is looking at other options such as asking the sheriff's office to patrol or seeing whether they can appoint a police chief.

"We've been offered by the Sheriff's Office to hire them to patrol or we can go through the Legislature and stuff like that to appoint somebody. We'd have to see. Everything comes at a price and we'll have to see if it's in our budget," said Budden.

The issue will be discussed during the next town meeting on Aug. 13.

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