Two Person Police Department Down to One Full Time Officer

Another Midland Empire community deals with a shortage of police officers. Earlier this week, we told you how rural areas like Livingston County need more officers. Now KQ2 heads to Mound City where a one-man police department struggles to fill it`s schedule. Mound City Police Officer Scott Wedlock said, "There`s probably things going undetected and there`s probably things going unsolved." Wedlock is the only full-time officer at the Mound City Police Department. His old partner got a promotion to Holt County Sheriff and a recent hire quit before he even hit the streets. "A lot of calls I field at the beginning of the shift are held over from other shifts." Two part time officers are helping out but Wedlock says it`s not enough because they work full time jobs. Wedlock said, "We`re at the mercy of their fulltime schedules. One officer position doen`s have time to go out and self initiate or delve into some unresolved crime." Alderman Stan Seitz is in charge of hiring for the police department. We asked if the staff situation was causing chaos. Seitz said, "Oh not very much we had two full time officers at one point. We`d like to get back to two but it depends on the budget and what we can afford as far as the work load." But some residents say it`s a big problem. They say when Wedlock is off they depend on the Holt County Sheriff`s Department or Highway Patrol. Gary Andler has lived in Mound City for about 40 years he said, "Somebody can get shot at and they call 911 and they get a hold of the highway patrol or something like that it takes a long time." Eight year resident Shawn Berney said, "We don`t always know what`s going up and down the interstate and what could come into our town and night time is a definite time I feel more than one police officer is needed to patrol the area." Seitz says the department does need help but he`s not sure how much. Seitz said, "I don`t know at this time if we need full time back or not." Seitz says newspaper ads have been placed but Wedlock is worried. "A lot of those people don`t gravitate to smaller communities and that`s probably one of the other issues we`re faced with." Berney says even though finding a replacement might be tough the town deserves it. Berney said, "It`s a good area to raise kids in and you want them to be safe and you can`t put a price on that. If anyone is interested in applying for a position contact the Mound City Police Department at 1-660-442-3447