Photo: The former Bunker Hill, IN police department; source, Fox59.
The town of Bunker Hill, Indiana effectively no longer has a police department as the Town Marshall and four other officers resigned together on Monday, according to Fox59 news report.
Michael Thomison, the former Town Marshall (police chief) reported that his police force “…had issues with the town board and there are some activities there where I felt like they were serving their own agenda.”
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All five members of the police department resigned and submitted their resignation letters together on Monday night.
Their resignation letters reveal some of the issues that often disrupt effective police operations and complicate communication between police departments and government organizations. Thomison explained that the town council “would not communicate” with the department or the officers and “kept scaling back” resources and support.
Background checks on town council members demanded
However, the letters also accuse town council members of demanding police staff to “do illegal, unethical, and immoral things,” such as accessing police databases to conduct background checks on other town council members to uncover their criminal history—and being threatened when officers refused to do so.
One Set of Body Armor for 5 Officers
Another more life-threatening issue revealed in the resignation letters addressed officer safety. The former Bunker Hill officers said they all had to share just one set of body armor.
Former policer leader Thomison explained, “I did not want to send someone out there with bad body armor so I would take mine off and provide it to the other officers. I told them we have to provide this, there is an IC code that explains that and says that the town has to provide that body armor.”
A Showing of Solidarity
Thomison also said that the officers did not want to resign “but felt they had to.”
The town of Bunker Hill has been left to quickly find replacements as this town of about 1,000 effectively no longer has a police department.
And it seems there is also a showing of solidarity among fellow officers outside of the department as well. Thomison said that the town council is “scrambling” and that despite their efforts to find replacements, they “have contacted some other officers that do not want the position.”
The police department officers are now empty. And a sign posted on the now vacant door may leave some people scratching their heads: “The Town is currently without the Police Department. In the case of an emergency please call 911.”
