Dissolving police departments

In late January, the Rio Vista City Council voted to dissolve its police department following the abrupt departure of the police chief, a commander, and a sergeant that left the agency all but gutted. The small city about of roughly 9,000 residents—located approximately 60 miles east of San Francisco—will now receive its police services from the Solano County Sheriff's Office. Rio Vista is not alone. Late last year, the town board in Deposit, New York, held a meeting to discuss with interested citizens the proposal to dissolve their police department. A few months before that, the Ridgetop Police Department in Tennessee suffered a similar fate. The town of Freedom, Wisconsin voted to disband its police department—consisting of two full-time and one part-time sworn officer—last year as well. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the shuttering of doors at police agencies, usually in smaller jurisdictions.