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Fairmont should hire another police officer

Numbers can tell a story. For Fairmont police, the numbers say the department needs more help. Among the stats: Meth arrests are up 200 percent since 2009 and the city’s crime rate is up for the first time since 2002. In 2014, local police logged 3,400 hours of overtime.

In 2013, two experienced officer retired from a 16-member department. Fairmont responded by hiring one officer, someone with less experience, and the department lost ground overall.

What city staff now propose is adding one police officer, getting department staffing back to where it was in 2013. We believe the City Council should view this situation seriously and move forward with the new hire.

As is the case in other professions, police officers are graying, and retiring. Younger officers are scooping up full-time jobs, making part-time work far less appealing. Fairmont will have trouble filling the gap through part-time help. And while one new officer won’t resolve every issue, a new hire will be a step in the right direction.

We have been among the critics of the police force in recent years, questioning the department’s size given Fairmont’s status as a “quiet” and aging community. But Police Chief Greg Brolsma has made a clear and compelling case that reality does not fit that analysis.

We believe the police deserve and need the community’s support in this matter to do their jobs effectively. They protect all of us; we should do the same for them.

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