Residents of Three Oaks Township are being assured they’ll have adequate police protection now that the township’s agreement with the village of Three Oaks for police has come to an end.
The village of Three Oaks put out word this week the more than 20-year-old contract for it to provide police service to the township has not been renewed. Three Oaks Village Manager Dan Faulkner tells us the village got a letter a few months ago informing it the township would not be renewing the arrangement.
“It worked out, it’s been working out for a number of years,” Faulkner said. “It’s just they’ve elected not to renew the agreement or to cancel the current agreement that we have.”
Three Oaks Township opted not to place its usual millage renewal for police protection on the ballot this year. Township Manager Phillip Smith tells us the decision was made by the former administration due to a decline in the level of service the township had been getting. He says the Three Oaks Police Department was down to just two officers at one point and wasn’t available 24/7. Smith tells township residents they don’t need to worry.
“We still have Berrien County sheriff’s deputies that are in the area,” Smith said. “We have Michigan State Police that will still be in the area along with the Pokagon Tribal Police that make rounds through the area also. So, we will still have police protection.”
However, Smith says the response times on some non-emergency calls may be longer with no local police agreement in place.
Faulkner says due to COVID, the Three Oaks Police Department did indeed shrink and found itself unable to find new officers until a state grant made that possible only recently. Now the department has three full-time officers and one part timer. He says he’s disappointed the township has opted not to renew the agreement, which cost the township about $70,000 per year. Faulker says that cost had not been raised in about five years.
Smith says perhaps in the future the issue can be reconsidered, but for now, the township doesn’t have any funds budgeted for a police protection agreement with any other municipality or agency.
