BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SOUTH LEBANON -- Mayor James Smith will recommend to the village's council members that the South Lebanon police force be disbanded because the its credibility has been destroyed by personnel problems. "I have a cancer growing (in the village), and I'm going to have to cut it out," Mr. Smith said Sunday.
The 2,800 village residents aren't getting the police service they deserve, Mr. Smith said, so he will recommend the Village contract with the Warren County sheriff's office.
Under the proposal, four sheriff's deputies would patrol South Lebanon at a cost of $180,000 annually. The village would be responsible for providing equipment and uniforms and maintaining a police outpost.
The contract likely would save the village about $50,000 annually, Solicitor Jack Quinn said. The village spends $277,000 -- nearly half its annual budget -- for police service.
But Mr. Smith said the decision isn't about money.
"I have to do what's right for South Lebanon," he said.
Police Officer Bryan Wanless denied personnel problems were interferring with the department's service.
"We've shown that it's not about money. We've shown that it's not about service," he said. "It's sad that politics are doing this to our community."
Still, it appears dismantling the department has the support of the majority of the mayor and six council members. The mayor and three council members -- Don Combs, Ann Herald and Dick Greer -- have expressed support for dismantling the department.
Mr. Combs said council members have spent hours reviewing personnel problems within the police department, but to no avail.
Officers on the four-person department have conducted internal investigations of each other, he said. Allegations of police misconduct or theft in office have swirled in council meetings and in the village. Officer Wanless said he and a handful of other officers sent a letter of no confidence about Sgt. Pete Stemple to the village council.
In November, Mr. Smith placed Village Administrator John Louallen in charge of the police department in an attempt to clean up some of the problems. In addition, council reduced Chief Derrick Hollon's 1997 $39,000 salary by $1,500 for 1998 to express their dissatisfaction with his job performance.
"It's a mess," Mr. Louallen said. "Everybody's just kind of stabbing each other in the back."
And the bottom line for residents: "They're not getting the service they deserve and they pay for," he said.
Last week, about 75 residents attended a council session, many to fight to save their department. Several carried signs that said, "Save our police. Get rid of mayor, council and administrator." To combat what he considers a flood of misinformation, Mr. Smith had a two-page letter detailing problems within the department hand-delivered to each South Lebanon residence Friday.
"The list could go on and on," the mayor wrote, "but I just wanted the citizens of this village to know your mayor and council have been quietly working behind the scenes to solve these problems and remedy the situation without public embarrassment to the village or those involved."
Mr. Smith said he is considering calling a special meeting to discuss police service. It also will be on the agenda of council's Aug. 19 meeting.
