Hanceville selling police fleet, deputies to patrol city for another year
Hanceville citizens will be without their own crime-fighting force for at least another year.
In February, a Cullman County grand jury called for the Hanceville Police Department to be shut down following the arrest of its chief and four officers.
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The city voted to suspend the department in March.
The officer's arrests stemmed from evidence tampering and corruption allegations.
Originally, the city planned to hire a new chief and start from scratch after about a month.
However, the city's insurance company is refusing to cover the department's fleet for another year.
So, Hanceville is selling off its dozen or so police vehicles.
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For the last few months, Cullman County has been paying deputies overtime out of its budget to patrol Hanceville's streets in the short term.
It has cost them an extra $25,000 a month.
Now that those services will stretch into next summer, the county is tweaking the deal.
鈥淲e are in negotiations of creating some type of contract with Hanceville, in an attempt to hire additional deputies, that cover that area full time,鈥� Sheriff Matt Gentry said.
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He thinks they will need two more dispatchers and nearly half a dozen deputies to provide Hanceville residents with the service they deserve.
鈥淲e face each unique challenge with the same mindset to make sure that no matter what, our citizens are taken care of,鈥� Sheriff Gentry said.