LOWVILLE, New York (WWNY) – The interim chief of the Lowville Police Department is telling village leaders he needs more staffing and patrol cars.
The village has more than 3,000 people and 4 police officers. That’s down from 9 officers a few years ago.
“We’re here as much as we can but we have to go home and sleep sometime,” said Mike Tabolt, the interim police chief.
Tabolt recently told village trustees he needs more officers because drug-related calls are increasing.
He admits hiring for Lowville could be challenging.
“It’s very tough for a small community to stand out and compete with say the state police when they have a lot more expenses,” said Tabolt.
He recently saw close to 100 applicants for the Watertown Police Department.
“If we could get one of those or two of those to come and apply and if we can come to an agreement to employing them, we’d certainly like that,” he said.
Tabolt also told the village board the department’s fleet needs attention. There are 3 patrol cars, 1 unmarked.
Before the Covid pandemic, one was replaced every two years. A new car today is around $60,000.
Tabolt says new patrol vehicles help police respond to calls more efficiently and hopes it’ll save money over the long term.
“The village has its rotations so it doesn’t cost taxpayers any more money than they absolutely have to and you get the cars working and capable of doing the job they need to do,” he said.
The chief is finding common ground with village leaders who recently told Tabolt to look at replacing a patrol car, maybe another one next year, and Tabolt got the green light to look for an additional 2 officers.
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