Failed police tax collection leaves Newton Falls up in the air

NEWTON FALLS, Ohio (WKBN) — A dozen Newton Falls residents rose up to speak out against abolishing the police station at a city council meeting Wednesday night.

Emergency ordinances on the agenda will be directed to the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department.

Newton Falls’ Stephen Riffle said: “When you bring in the sheriff, it leaves a lot of people with a lot of suspicion.

“You’re going to propose this just before Christmas. What happens to their families?” said Brenda Percino of Newton Falls.

“What are the sheriffs going to do for us? They won’t have the same level of compassion that the police here have,” said Loretta Coe of Newton Falls.

Many of them wondered what the new response time would be if Newton Falls made a deal with the police and it was legal to exclude them by city charter.

One resident said the police department is now a charter-bound department.

“Money you spend on the sheriff, spend it on your own officers. They deserve it more,” Persino said.

The contract with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office costs about $400,000, according to city leaders. That’s less than half the amount the city spends maintaining its own police station.

“We expect the budget to be more than $900,000 this year to maintain the level of police that protects this community,” said city administrator Pam Priddy.

As it stands, the city has yet to make a decision. They voted to introduce the ordinance and plan to reconsider the vote at their next council meeting in December.