Purcellville residents protest elimination of police department

PURCELLVILLE, Va. - The Purcellville Town Council shocked the community Wednesday, voting to eliminate the town's police department and give control over to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. 

The news came as a surprise to many – including the Purcellville chief of police. Now, neighbors are protesting the decision, asking for a recall.

What they're saying:

At Wednesday night’s town budget meeting, residents gathered to sign a petition for a recall in hopes of keeping their police department.

Residents spoke with FOX 5 are upset about the process here, that this didn’t come up for any sort of public discussion before Tuesday night. They also do not think their local police department should be considered for removal.

"My reaction to that is incredibly absolutely dumbfounded. I don’t even know how an idea like that can even be conceived. Police are instituted as being guardians of the peace," Purcellville resident Gerry King said. 

The two council members that voted against it were Erin Rayner and Kevin Wright. Both saying the vote caught them off guard.

"I was taken back. Just in shock. Without any discussion, without any public input, without any planning  and not even including the entire council when the motion came up," council member Kevin Wright said. 

"What will it look like for our town removing our police department?" council member Erin Rayner said. "It was really ill-advised and I was just very disappointed in their behavior."

The backstory:

The town council gave multiple reasons for the elimination of the department. For starters, they have staffing issues. They’re approved for 21 officers but only have 16. The mayor said they have a problem with turnover that’s a financial drain on this town of around 10,000. It's consistently ranked one of the safest towns in Virginia. 

"We’re put in the position of competing with the Town of Leesburg, the sheriff’s departments of Loudoun and Fairfax County when it comes to retaining officers. For every patrol officer we hire, another ones leaves. That’s led to long-term understaffing," Purcellville Mayor Christopher Bertaut said. 

They also say the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office already patrols the town between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., and manages the resource officers in the schools. They also say it just makes financial sense. The move is expected to save Purcellville over $3 million. 

The other side:

One of the biggest concerns with the change is response time, which is expected to double from six minutes for two officers on the scene to 15. 

"Response time is going to be challenged. When the Sheriff's Office responds, it’s going to be 15, 17 minutes. Versus now when the response time is six minutes. So, I think the citizens are definitely going to feel that if that happens," Chief Sara Lombrana said. 

However, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office says they will take the steps to be prepared.

Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman is not is taking a position on what Purcellveille should do, but saying these transitions can take time, and is open to further conversations about what this transition looks like.

"They decided, ultimately, to do away with their department and allow us to take over enforcement operations. They will be in a good spot to do that. It will take some time because then we’ve got to step up a little bit too, so it's a work in progress. It’s not anything that happens instantly," Loudoun County Sheriff John Chapman said.

What's next:

The mayor says this didn’t come up publicly because they knew it was a sensitive issue but says residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on this between now and July first if and when this transition happens.

"There were several members I was working closely. One at a time. Just soliciting their feedback and trying to trying to bulletproof," Bertaut said.

The process of transferring the department will start in July but will ultimately take one to two years to complete.