By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM – If village government is dissolved by voters Nov. 8, the town council will have four general options for maintaining the safety and lawfulness of citizens who live, work, study, shop or pass through here.

The village’s Dissolution Study Committee described the four options:

• Completely disbanding what is now the village police department, a choice Police Chief Ed Tischler says would result in “chaos.”

• Creating a special police district within the current village boundaries, which the committee describes as “technically feasible but politically unrealistic” because state legislative approval is viewed as unlikely; Town Supervisor Marie Regan, however, has indicated she would pursue the option anyway if the village is dissolved.

• Establishing a town-wide police force, perhaps with two to three more officers than the village now has, as recommended by the Dissolution Study Committee’s Police Subcommittee.

• Contracting for police coverage with another agency such as the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, but Sheriff Kevin Wells says it is unlikely his department could muster the manpower for such a plan, which would be outside of their mandate.

Disband the Department?

The consensus seems to be the least desirable choice is to disband the department. That would leave enforcement in the town and the former village to the state police and sheriff. The dissolution study committee calls this the least attractive option, as a more widely dispersed force would be called upon to provide services to a village where they have not had that responsibility.

“With two colleges, a hospital with rehab and detox, Fort Drum nearby, I do think downtown Potsdam would be in chaos,” said Chief Tischler. “The sheriff and state police would only be able to do so much. Without patrols in the village 24/7, it would be very tough.”

He added, “I believe the sheriff and state police would try to be in the area on a busy weekend, but it wouldn’t happen if they were tied up elsewhere. If there was a fight or something, there might be no one to respond right away, and that could be a dangerous situation.”

The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department and State Police say they don’t believe they could provide the same level of coverage the village police do now.

“We could not make up for the village department if it is disbanded. We don’t have the manpower,” County Sheriff Kevin Wells said. “We would draw an increased workload, and we would make every effort. We would have to prioritize, and some things would move lower on the scale. They would get the same response Waddington or Russell would get.”

A state police spokesman said disbanding the village police department would simply leave fewer officers to provide coverage throughout the area, meaning longer response times.

“We don’t have the manpower to take up any slack there or in other townships that have been talking about this,” said State Police Director of Public Information Lt. Glenn R. Miner. “Our resources are stretched thin. We haven’t had an academy class” – a group of newly trained troopers – “in three years,” Miner said.

Designate a ‘Police District’?

Another option put forward by the Dissolution Committee is establishment of a “police district” within current village boundaries, which would probably resemble the current disposition most closely. The police would work in the district, and property owners and businesses inside the district would pay for it through district taxes.

But the state Legislature and the governor would have to approve it, and that is viewed by the committee as unlikely, even though Town Supervisor Regan has said she would try it if the village goes.

“Probably the police district would be the best option but indications are that would be the least obtainable,” said Chief Tischler.

He said the last time that a police district was set up by the state Legislature was 80 years ago. Since then, he said, one village in the state that decided to dissolve had received promises that a police district would be set up, “but when the time came they didn’t do it.”

The Dissolution Study Committee report notes the move would require both the village and town mutually request their legislators to sponsor the legislation. Were it to pass at the state level, legislators believe “the governor will veto the law,” the report says.

A town-wide police force?

A town-wide police department could be established and run by the town, in any design they choose, the committee noted in laying out another option.

“A town-wide police force could be doable, but there’s no guarantee that would be an option,” Tischler said. “We don’t know what the police department would look like.”

The town could try to extend police coverage to all 100 square miles of the township with the same force that now covers just the 4.8 square miles of the village, but to do that some services, including fast response time, would have to be modified. More personnel could be hired, trained and equipped, but that would cost more. A town-wide department might allow the Village of Norwood to drop its police department.

Some members of the Dissolution Committee’s Police Subcommittee recommended an “enhanced” police force of two or three more officers and another car. To provide service throughout the township comparable to that in the village now, the Police Subcommittee believes, would require a substantial expansion of the current department’s size.

Chief Tischler says he believes that “if we want to provide service here and outside the village, we would pretty much have to double the size of the force to provide the same coverage.”

The Potsdam force now is Chief Tischler, one lieutenant, three sergeants, eight patrol officers plus one vacancy, and four civilian dispatchers. That makes a payroll of 18 at full strength.

But Sheriff Wells said “There’s no need for a town-wide police department. They already have us and the state police. They have a county-wide police department – the Sheriff’s Office.”

Wells explained that dispatch of sheriff’s and state police cars to emergencies is by what he calls the “closest car concept,” supported by a vehicle location system.

State Police Lt. Miner said, “Obviously we will still cover the areas we have covered. There is some overlap with the state police, sheriff’s patrols, and local forces” even now.

Wells said the village police sometimes call for assistance on weekends, “and we’re there. They probably need added power on weekends as it is. We’re the added power now.”

The town government would have the final say, deciding what the size of the force would be, what services it would provide, what laws to include in the town code and to enforce, and provide for its cost through town-wide taxes.

Contract With Another Agency?

Another possibility identified by the committee would be to contract with another agency, such as the county sheriff, for coverage for the entire town or part of it, but the committee believes such an arrangement would probably increase response times and diminish enforcement of laws and ordinances previously established by the village.

The sheriff says it would be unlikely his department could muster the manpower for such a plan, which would be outside of their mandate.

“We have 20 road deputies and four uniformed sergeants, the same as what we had when I started here 27 years ago,” Wells said. “That’s for our 24/7 schedule. As far as I know, we’re the only sheriff’s department that hasn’t grown in that time. We’ve been doing more with less. Our overtime budget is lower than the majority of law enforcement agencies in the county, certainly, and probably around the state.”

“We are in and out of every single corner of this county every day,” Wells said. “We have certain mandates other agencies don’t, such as delivering county court orders.”

And, Wells said, his officers already respond to between 12,750 and 13,200 complaints a year.

“Certainly the smaller services we provide the sheriff won’t be able to do – things like removing bats from houses, noise complaints, open container warnings, house checks,” Chief Tischler said.

“Those quality of life issues wouldn’t be handled the same, just because the sheriff doesn’t have the manpower – fingerprints, records checks, handicapped parking permits. It’s convenient for residents of the village to have those services.”

If the village is dissolved, whatever the town does regarding his department, Tischler said, there would be personnel issues.

“There’s a misconception. Everyone assumes that village employees, because they’re village employees, would just become town employees if the village dissolves.” But Tischler says there are civil service issues, and even if the town decides to keep the whole department, everyone would probably have to reapply.