WINFIELD | Town officials are hoping for a "sit down" with Lake County Sheriff's Department to discuss the possibility of contracting police coverage for the town.
At a study session Tuesday night, the Town Council directed its attorney William Enslen to contact the Sheriff's Department and schedule a meeting.
Last month the county notified Winfield that it could no longer continue to serve the 15-year-old municipality.
Incorporated in 1993, Winfield has been one of Indiana's fastest-growing towns and has reached a population of 4,200. The town has relied on the county for its police coverage since its inception.
Several years ago, the Sheriff's Department had a substation in Winfield in a small building shared with the local chamber of commerce. Council President Jim Hicks said the department no longer used the building and the chamber now occupies the entire space.
Enslen said that previous councils had considered options for police coverage and had listened to a presentation on hiring a town marshal. Financial considerations dictated that it would be more economical to look at contracting rather than creating its own police department.
Enslen added that earlier councils had pursued a contract with the county.
"They met with the Sheriff's Department and had worked out a tentative agreement. The sheriff was to draft it but then backed out saying it would set a dangerous precedent for other towns. At that point it died," Enslen said.
Enslen said he believed the sheriff was willing to look at the options again.
He suggested that with a contracted service, ordinance and code violations would allow citations to be written. He said that with the tax crunch many municipalities were writing more citations.
The town has budgeted $80,000 for police coverage and officials said they might be able to fund some equipment purchases as well.
Another option the town might consider is contracting with neighboring municipalities like Crown Point and Merrillville.
Hicks said he would like to resolve the issue by the first quarter of next year.
