Budget constraints are forcing a Colorado town to disband its police department by the end of the year.
Although officials decided to dissolve the Morrison Police Department this month, discussions about eliminating the agency stretch back as far as October, KUSA-TV reports. The talks also began about a month before Chief Bill Vinelli was placed on administrative leave, and Mayor Chris Wolfe was unclear if that contributed to the move.
“The decision as a board was made purely fiscally for this, but there are some implications or something that could be tied to it, but it was primarily just a fiscal decision,” he said.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's will handle patrolling the town of roughly 400 starting Jan. 1. Sheriff Reggie Marinelli said the agency already had a working relationship with the community, and he expected a smooth transition.
“We have gone off and on with assisting Morrison, whether it be what we have currently and have been contracted for four years where we take their graveyard shift,” Marinelli said. “There have been times where they haven’t had enough officers, where we've taken all weekend. There's been contracts where we start patrolling Morrison at 5 p.m. on Friday and stop at 8 a.m. on Monday."
"We did have to go through our budget, and we just said, it was, fiscally, a better decision to move ahead with our sheriff here as a partner," said Wolfe.
