Nearly two weeks ago, the Goodhue City Council accepted resignations from the town's entire police force, which included a police chief, one full-time officer and five part-time officers.
Two days ago, those resignations went into full effect, meaning that Goodhue is officially without a police force.
This wasn't some sort of symbolic mutiny or power play by the officers. Goodhue – with a population of about 1,200 – simply lacks the tax base and budget to pay anything close to market rate for full-time, city-funded law enforcement. Its police officers were earning $22 an hour – about $10 an hour less than sheriff's deputies earn in Goodhue County, and $14 below the mean officer pay nationwide.
With a wage gap like that, resignations aren't just understandable – they're inevitable.
The good news is that Goodhue residents won't be left entirely without law enforcement. The city already has inked a deal with Goodhue County to get coverage from the sheriff's department. It won't be full-time, and town residents won't likely see uniformed officers nearly as often as they used to, but when people need help or are victims of a crime, their calls will be answered.
To be honest, we must confess some level of surprise that a town the size of Goodhue still had a full-time police force. The cost of paying, insuring and equipping police officers has become too much for many small towns to handle. Goodhue joins Spring Grove, Morris, Wheaton and Ortonville on the list of towns that have...
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