Rebuilt Alexandria police force faces financial struggles, village can’t provide safety gear for all officers

Nearly half of the police officers in the Village of Alexandria’s police department — relaunched this year after 12 years of dormancy — were not provided bulletproof vests to wear while on duty this year.

The department, rebuilt this year after being defunct since 2012, has since grown in terms of officers and equipment. But the community, with a population just shy of 500 people, can’t allocate unlimited funds to the police department, Alexandria Police Chief Dan Bunting said. This year, the department was allocated $78,000 for operations.  

Currently, there are seven part-time officers and one volunteer officer in the police department. There is not an officer on duty 24/7, and usually, there is only one officer on duty. Every officer has another full-time job, and they work at the department when they are available. Bunting works at the department 60 hours per month but typically goes over the allotted time. 

Read more: The Village of Alexandria’s police department is back after a 12-year absence

The police department has purchased or has been given police cruisers, computers for the cruisers, radios, firearms, four bulletproof vests, and uniforms since it has been reinstated. But with eight officers, there aren’t enough vests for everyone.

“A lot of the equipment comes from donations or hand-me-downs,” Bunting said. “It’s in our policy that you have to wear vests when you work. I feel like if you’re gonna issue one person something, you should issue everybody the same things.”

The four officers who work the most hours each week were issued the four department vests. The other officers are still required to wear vests — but they provided those vests themselves. 

Police-grade bulletproof vests aren’t cheap and can cost officers hundreds of dollars apiece. 

The police department was approved for a vest grant, but there is not enough money in the department’s operating account to fund the grant. Bunting says it is up to Alexandria Village Council if they want to move around police salary money to the operating budget. 

“My main concern is having equipment for the officers for their safety,” Bunting said. “As the chief, I think my biggest responsibility is officers’ safety.”

If more money is allocated to the operating budget, then the department could potentially acquire four more vests, Bunting said. There has been no decision to move forward on the grant, and Alexandria Village Council will discuss it at their next meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17. If the council does not find the money to pay for bulletproof vests, Bunting will wait to apply for another grant in 2025.

“You’d like everybody to be safety compliant and doing what they need to to be in their role, but at the same time, we have to be so conscientious of how we spend our money,” Alexandria Mayor Sean Barnes said. “I think we [Village Council] are all on the same page that we only want officers to be fully equipped to do their job in the safest manner possible.”

According to Bunting, there was a domestic violence call recently in St. Albans Township. At the time, no officer was working in Alexandria, so a Johnstown officer responded to the incident. 

“If I have a guy that’s on duty, or if I am on duty, I would be going to that type of call,” Bunting said.

Bunting believes that the growth coming to Alexandria will create a greater need for the police department; more people moving to the area means more potential crime.

This November, a property tax levy replacement will be on the ballot in the Village of Alexandria to cover the village’s operating expenses.

The levy would return the tax rate to 4 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $140 for each $100,000. At the Alexandria Village Council meeting on Sept. 3, 2024, Barnes said the current levy could have been renewed, but it would only be at 60% of its effective rate.

The current levy was approved by voters in 2017 for 4 mills on the property value but the effective rate is now 2.4 mills.

“I think people will recognize, in this day and age, all the challenges that are coming our way and recognize that we’re trying to do our best to start taking care of things,” Barnes said. 

Barnes said the majority of Alexandria’s funding goes to services for the community, particularly maintenance. He said that the council wants to take care of business and services in a way that reflects the pride everyone has for the village. 

“We really wanted to get our services operating for our community at the best level we can afford,” Barnes said.

Carianne Meng, a member of the Alexandria Village Council and St. Albans Township and Village of Alexandria Merger Commission, said the commission had made plans for the police department if Alexandria and St. Albans Township decided to merge.

If the proposed merger happens, the current Alexandria Police Department would continue to provide services for the village, and the Licking County Sheriff’s Office would serve the former St. Albans Township area until more officers are hired. The police department makeup would be decided by the new village council.

“Our role as a merger commission is not to decide exactly how a new municipality will operate, but to give scaffolding,” Meng said. 

Even with a potential merger on the horizon, Bunting said his focus has to be on the officers serving his community today. 

“Right now, I’m trying to do the best with the funding that I have,” Bunting said. 

Caroline Zollinger writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.