Mich. towns end talks, won't add sheriff's deputy

By Sharon Sturdevant
The Kalamazoo Gazette

GUN PLAIN TOWNSHIP — Talk of three area municipalities working with Gun Plain Township to seek grant funds to hire another sheriff's deputy to patrol the region has ended amid growing economic pressures.

"Gun Plain even looked at funding the whole cost ourselves, but we just can't afford to do it," township Supervisor Mike VanDenBerg said.

The assessment emerged after leaders from Gun Plain and Martin townships and the village of Martin discussed several times whether the municipalities could pool resources to participate in a grant program provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the competitive COPS Hiring Recovery Program.

Under the program, a federal grant will pay the entry-level salary and benefits for a newly hired police officer during a three-year period if the local agency or municipality agrees to fund the position for a fourth year.

Initial details about the grant program were released in early March, and in April Allegan County Sheriff Blaine Koops applied for grant money to fund five officers. A county deputy describing the program to Gun Plain Township trustees in early April indicated it would cost a local municipality or agency $60,000 to $75,000 to fund the position for the fourth year.

"That's a lot of money," Martin Township trustee Jack Sipple said in April. "If we haven't had too many problems, do we really need to spend money on a deputy when things are getting tighter?"

Sipple and the other Martin Township trustees had informally agreed in March to explore the grant program but to apply only if village and Gun Plain Township officials were willing to share the costs.

A similar partnership existed years ago, but through the years Martin township and village stopped funding the partnership, Martin Township Supervisor Terry Sturgis said. Gun Plain Township has used general operating funds to continue paying for the dedicated deputy position -- now held by Don Roberts -- so residents still have consistent police coverage, VanDenBerg said.

A few Gun Plain trustees were interested in trying to expand police coverage in the municipality, VanDenBerg said. "But other trustees felt we didn't need the extra coverage," he said. Martin village officials apparently hesitated because of the cost of matching the grant funds would exceed the roughly $2,000 budgeted annually for police protection, VanDenBerg said.

"So then Martin Township announced it couldn't afford to participate, either," he said.

Copyright 2009 Kalamazoo Gazette