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| Fifth Full-Time Police Officer Approved in Abingdon |
Abingdon's police chief says adding a fifth full-time officer to the department will make it better and the community safer.
The Abingdon City Council Monday night, after a lengthy discussion, approved the additional officer proposed by chief Fred Andrews with a 5-3 vote. Andrews says the police department has already received around 2,300 for assistance this year, a total the chief says is a lot and is not slowing down.
Andrews says crime in Abingdon has gone up significantly over the past several months. Alderwoman Bambi Cohagen agreed, saying, "there's a lot of stuff going on in this town that's been horrible the past three weeks."
Andrews tells WGIL another full-time officer will improve the department's coverage during the times most crimes are committed. "We've had a high increase in drugs this year, especially the last six months" Andrews said. "I don't know if you connect that with the economy or what you do, but it seems all of the sudden we're getting his pretty hard with drug trading and trafficking and stuff. Domestic abuse is on the rise in Abingdon."
The council's no votes were cast by Mike Boggs, Dean Fairbank and Melissa Johnson. Boggs said he couldn't see how adding a full-time officer, who gets benefits, would not cost the city more money. Fairbank suggested the police department continue with the current arrangement and take a hard look at adding a full-time officer in May.
Andrews says the department's schedule will be reworked so the new officer won't cost the city any more money. He's targeting January first as the date to have that person hired. |
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| 12 02 08 by Newsroom |
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