Weber City, Virginia: The Weber City Town Council voted Tuesday night to fire Police Chief Donald Harding III and a sergeant amid an active investigation by the Virginia State Police into the department. The council met in closed session for approximately an hour before reconvening to take a unanimous vote. Both officers were fired for violation of town policy, according to the mayor. The council did not disclose what policies were violated.
Prior to the vote, two additional officers had already been dismissed because the department lacked the personnel needed to train them. The Weber City Police Department closed its doors the following morning.
Mayor Justin Addington did not mince words, “Well, actually, we have no officers,” Addington said. “We had the last officer, he resigned due to the circumstances that took place.”
The Scott County Sheriff’s Office assumed patrol coverage for Weber City as the town begins rebuilding its department. The Virginia State Police also confirmed they would assist with calls as needed. Officials acknowledged that response times would be longer.
The Virginia State Police confirmed the investigation was active and ongoing as of the department’s closure. VSP stated the investigation remained active and that the agency was providing law enforcement support as requested. The specific nature of the allegations that triggered the investigation has not been made public. No charges have been announced against any of the terminated officers.
The Weber City collapse is the most recent example of a documented trend that experts say is worsening. Small agencies across the United States are shutting down at a steady pace, roughly one per month. At the same time, even large and well-funded departments are experiencing staffing shortages and poor recruitment results.
Doug Larsen is a retired police officer and the CEO of Safeguard Recruiting, the only recruiting firm dedicated to staffing law enforcement agencies. He said that smaller agencies face a critical point when just a few officers leave and advocates for a continued pipeline of candidates to quickly fill the gap.
“The majority of our clients have less than 50 officers, and after a few weeks of working with them, we’ve been able to ease any staffing burdens they may have,” Larsen told us.
What can’t happen, according to Larsen, is agencies waiting until they are short-staffed before considering candidates.
Larsen called it a “24/7” approach and one that has served their clients well.
