(4/6) Even with a new $75,000 a year
mortgage payment, Thurmont’s police force is
proving itself a value both for its costs and
services provided to the citizens of
Emmitsburg.
In Frederick County, different areas use
different forms of policing. Thurmont and
other municipalities have their own police
force. Some municipalities, like Emmitsburg,
contract to have Frederick County Sheriff’s
Office Deputies or Maryland State Police
troopers work in their towns. Other areas rely
on Frederick County Sheriff’s patrols for
their police coverage.
“I totally support the local police force,”
said Thurmont Commissioner Glenn Muth who
serves as the liaison on the Thurmont Police
Commission. “They have a quick response time
and do a lot of crime prevention.”
Small-town police forces are also called on
to do more than community policing.
“We do the small things like parking
enforcement, animal complaints, weeks…they’re
all a big part of being accessible,” said
Thurmont Police Chief Greg Eyler.
A check of additional services provided by
the local police as opposed to county deputies
or state police include residential vacation
checks, municipal code enforcement, back up
crossing guards, traffic details for street
crews, funeral escorts, Colorfest coverage,
emergency business contacts and informing town
staff when lights are non-functioning during
night hours or snow needs to be plowed.
Emmitsburg Mayor James Hoover said that
while the community deputies in Emmitsburg
don’t do municipal code enforcement, he find
other value with having community deputies.
“Essentially, we never have a vacancy,”
Hoover said. “There’s a lot more flexibility.
If one of our deputies gets promoted, I have
several hundred deputies to kind of pick and
choose from.”
He also said that the contract with the
county sheriff’s office not only covers the
personnel expenses like salary and retirement,
it also include the officer’s equipment and
vehicle.
However, that all comes with a cost and the
cost means that for a bottom-line cost of
$104,694 this year ($44.24 per resident),
Emmitsburg gets three community deputies and
partial coverage. On the other hand, Thurmont
will pay $338,551 this year ($56.10 per
resident) and get 24/7 coverage and 10
officers.
“I think it comes down to control,” Hoover
said. “How much control of community services
do you want? We (Emmitsburg) don’t really have
much of that.”
Eyler also pointed out that in addition to
24/7 coverage, Thurmont citizens don’t have to
drive to Frederick to get police reports, the
citizens know the officers and can address any
issues with them to the chief, and the
commissioners can easily call for information
on crime incidents in town.
“I’m not going to stop until we have the
most professional police department around,”
Eyler said.
He said that the generally accepted
staffing ratio for a small municipal force is
two officers per 1,000 residents. So if he can
get his department up to 12 officers next
year, he’ll consider it fully staffed for the
foreseeable future.
Hoover also noted that for a small
municipality like Emmitsburg starting a police
department would carry a very heavy cost to
purchase equipment, furnish offices, secure
files and hire personnel. While future costs
would drop off, it’s the initial start-up
costs that becomes cost prohibitive.
How much does police protection cost
residents
Thurmont Emmitsburg
Middletown Brunswick
Police costs
$846,570
$316,415
$347,000
$821,673
- grants / tax equity $508,019
$211,721
$272,202
$469,263
= total police cost
$338,551 $104,694
$74,798
$352,410
# of residents
6,035
2,366
2,858
5231
# of officers
10
3
3
7
Cost per resident
$56.10
$44.24
$26.17
$67.37
Cost per officer
$33,855.10 $34,898.00
$24,933.00
$50,344.29
Source: Municipal budgets, Thurmont Police
information, Maryland Department of Planning.
