By Police1 Staff
BUNKER HILL, Ind. — A local town is without a police department after the town marshal and four reserve deputies resigned Monday.
The Effingham Daily News reported that officers cited mismanagement of the department and stated the town council asked officers to occasionally break the law.
Town Marshal Michael Thomison stated the board allegedly asked officers to run background checks on other board members and requested confidential information.
“I have had to educate them on the things they were asking from me and explained that I would not take part in any of these actions,” he said.
The town council also reduced the department from nine reserve deputies to four, Thomison said.
“The town has refused to educate themselves on how to run a town, they continue to carry out their personal agendas to either run off the police department or make it so that it is impossible to work with or for them,” he said.
Along with other issues, Thomison said the board voted to reduce his hours at the department to part time after he was diagnosed with cancer so they would not be required to provide health insurance.
Council President Brock Speer accepted the resignations, saying the council was “a little blindsided by everyone resigning, but it is what it is.”