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Show '"I f a rresg lea 7 1 3 Y-i i "aczzira-' r1 I i , siw-Tl! ' m-"' i , , , , m'M-'Ti i, "IW - 111 -nafcAtr V nfitfllli rfinwiifninwMMiTflrrmi niiiiTiiirrfrrmr'n-iTrri'iOTir-wrnT i"raiiiiiniii iiiiiiirrrTTnmrfrjTirimTrTrr"ifngrriiiiiiirTi"'T JiTi'-n- r-"'--r - c- ,"TT" i f . .. ...rri.... zt, ... . ;.l.T..t..'..ri .. a. 5 Will the two soon become one? That is the question being addressed by city and county officials as they mull over the prospects of a metro police force. Opinions on the subject vary widely. Cedar City, Co unty discussing combined 'Metro 9 police force By BRUCE LEE Record Asst. Editor Officials of Iron County and Cedar City, as well as the chiefs of the police forces within those areas, are once again discussing the possibility of the two forces combining into one. Members of the Iron County Commission Com-mission and the Cedar City Council are discussing, although in preliminary stages, the combining of the Cedar City . police Department and the Iron County Sheriff's Department into one county-wide county-wide department. Opinions among those involved range along a wide spectrum, but many are hoping that something can be agreed upon in the near future. Options available are a metro force (one county-wide department that has responsibility for all law enforcement activities in the county and the several . towns and cities); a plan whereby the cities in the county contract with the county force for law enforcement; and the current set-up of separate forces for the county and the cities and towns. Under either of the first two options, Sheriff Ira Schoppman would head the force, subject to election every four years, and Cedar City Police -Chief Douglas Bolton would be Under-sheriff, second in command. However, Bolton would not need to stand for election. The prospect of such a police force was first brought up over three years ago, but was soon dropped because an agreement could not be arrived at, but now County Commission Chairman Dee Cowan and Cedar City Mayor Jack Sawyers are once again pushing for the change in program. "It wouldn't cost us (the taxpayers) more, and we would get better service," ser-vice," said Mayor Sawyers. However, even Sawyers and Cowan disagree on the exact conditions of any county-wide force. Sawyers favors the metro police concept; whereas, Cowan favors the contracted city force. "I think we'd have a problem on a contract basis. I'd rather see it on a cooperative basis," said Sawyers. However, Cowan noted that he felt the department could be run better if it were headed by Sheriff Schoppman. "The city police in some places are ' hesitant to act, and Ira isn't," said Cowan. That statement, of course, ruffled a few feathers at the Cedar City Police Department, but Chief Bolton stated emphatically that he wanted todo what was best for the citizens of Cedar City. "We refuse to do anything less than professional," he said. When the facts don't warrant action or when there is not probable cause, he said the department won't act. Bolton said he has looked at the proposals carefully and is not necessary against the metro force proposal. "I'm not against metro, per se, I'm against rushing into anything without adequate study and without knowing what's going to happen two or three years down the road." However, he had a different response concerning the proposal of contracting services. "I think that contracting with the county by the city for police protection would be the most asinine thing I've ever heard," he said. Bolton also spoke concerning all the items listed by Commissioner Cowan as problems with the present set up of two forces, both with the authority to work within the Cedar City limits. Bolton noted that changing to any type of metro force would not save money. He said that the Sheriff's Department budget for the year was more than the Police Department's, and the sheriff had one less man. "If manpower were cut, he said, "then someone is going to pay a terrific price in lost coverage, and that someone would be the people of Cedar City." Cowan had also charged that there was a duplication of work and effort between the two departments, and that communication was poor. Bolton said that was only a slight problem. "I don't see how you could have two investigators (Gordon Adams of the Sheriff's Department and Roy Houchen of the Police Department) working closer together than we do right now," he said. However, Sheriff Schoppmann has been for a county-wide force since it was first suggested and has been lobbying lob-bying strongly for its inception. "Anytime you have two departments you have friction," he said. "What you'd do by combining forces is build unity, and you'd have a stronger department. It's really the way to go." Schoppmann cited similar metro forces in Reno and Clark County, Nev., and in Emery County as working out very well for everybody. However, Bolton said that Schoppmann Schopp-mann was not necessarily thinking of the best for the people. "It is the desire of the sheriff to take over the law enforcement en-forcement in the county," he said. Bolton said the bottom line was that the citizens should decide, "not two or three people." "What I see now is the people of Cedar City ... are receiving the very best that we can give them at this time," he concluded. |
