Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Garfield, Palouse disband shared police contract
The policing agreement between Garfield and Palouse will end March 15 after 11 years.
The two towns, which have renewed the agreement twice, were in the process of another renewal when the outlook changed.
Garfield will now hire an officer to re-start their own police department.
“There were some less than desirable elements in town that we felt needed more attention than they were currently being given,” said Jarrod Pfaff, Garfield mayor.
The initial friction began last summer.
The Palouse department dropped down to two officers in June – after hiring a third earlier in 2019, who did not work out, and reserve officer Terry Snead was out of the area for the summer.
In turn, the City of Palouse added cost, with more on-call police pay until Snead came back.
“Garfield was not responsible for any of those added costs, even though some of it was incurred in Garfield,” said Kyle Dixon, Palouse city administrator.
At the same time, concerns began to be expressed in Garfield about the level of service the town was getting.
Last September, in preparation to negotiate the next contract, Dixon sent a letter giving Garfield a six-month notice of the termination of the current deal.
“That was coming from purely a compensation standpoint, with the understanding we would renegotiate the contract,” Dixon said.
As the deadline got closer, Garfield ultimately requested a one-month extension of the existing contract through March, to set up their own police force.
Palouse Police Chief Jerry Neumann subsequently asked the Palouse City Council to honor the original contract end date.
Neumann told the Garfield council Feb. 12 that the Palouse Police Department is no longer seeking a third candidate, and said the Palouse department would not cover Garfield to the end of March at the current pay rate.
He said overtime hours were particularly underestimated.
In the end, Garfield and Palouse will now have separate policing for the first time since 2009.
“Palouse administration, city council and mayor have been very cooperative, very supportive,” Pfaff said. “Nobody’s ending on hard feelings.”
If a town police officer is not able to respond to a 911 call, a county sheriff’s deputy will respond.
“We wish Mayor Pfaff and the community of Garfield all the best and look forward to a time where we might be able to collaborate once more,” said Chris Cook, Palouse mayor.
Palouse will continue with its two officers and may look to add a reserve when Snead leaves again in April.
“My stress level is gonna go down by about half,” said Chief Neumann. “There is some relief not having to work for Mayor Pfaff.”
As for Garfield, Pfaff indicated that re-starting a police department will incur costs to the town up front – to buy a police car, uniform, equipment – but then turn into less money spent than for the agreement with Palouse.
“It should save us around $10,000 a year,” he said.
The town’s goal is to have an officer in place by March 15.
What if they don’t reach it?
“Then I need to go have a conversation with the sheriff’s department,” said Pfaff.
Is he confident they will have an officer by April 1?
“Mostly,” Pfaff said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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