With it being 2023 and the rioting of the summer of 2020 behind us, you’d think that calls for “defunding the police” would be pretty much over. But that’s precisely what is being blamed for the recent resignation of one Minnesota city’s entire police department.
The resignations occurred on Wednesday, when Police Chief Josh Smith officially resigned, followed by the rest of his staff on Friday.
Now, to be clear, the rest of the department only includes two other officers, so it’s not like a great many were left to resign. However, the city of Goodhue, which has a population of 47,582 according to the 2020 census, is now left without law enforcement altogether.
So why did these officers resign?
Well, as a report from lawofficer.com says, the police chief had gone to the city council last week to discuss a possible “pay increase” for himself and his staff. But the council was more than hesitant about giving Smith such a request. They told him they would continue to discuss it later this week.
And so, Smith just resigned, apparently tired of getting nowhere with little resources and even less backing from city officials.
The city has now called a special counsel meeting for Monday to discuss “Chief Smith, Officer Brecht, and part time officers’ resignations,” “pay increase,” and “current status of the current police department.”
In the meantime, District Attorney for the county, Robert JV Vose, says the city has contacted the Goodhue County’s Sheriff’s office to cover should the need arise and “provide local police services.”
Mayor Ellen Anderson Buck wants to reassure people, “We will have law enforcement coverage in the interim.”
Of course, if the city had provided maybe even just a little more support, they wouldn’t be in this situation, where law enforcement is clearly still needed.
Unfortunately, CandGNews, which spoke to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard from Michigan, reports that Goodhue is not the only city with similar resignations.
When will these people learn?
