VANDALIA, Mo. — Law enforcement services will be provided to the City of Vandalia by the Audrain County Sheriff’s Department beginning on Jan. 1, 2021.

The Vandalia Board of Aldermen voted unanimously in favor of a six-year contract at a meeting last night (Tuesday, Aug. 11). This gives the city four and a half months to close the municipal police department which currently employs three full-time and two part-time officers.

Vandalia City Administrator Darren Berry offered the board and citizens who attended the meeting a breakdown of the city’s current situation. He explained that staffing has been one of the largest challenges for several years. The department has rarely been fully staffed in more than five years.

Berry pointed out that since 2016 the department has employed 40 different officers, 22 full-time and 18 part-time, for a department that calls for six officers to be considered fully-staffed..

“That’s more than 100 percent turnover.”

Berry added he has worked with two different chiefs of police on improving the staffing problems from advertising job openings in different places to hiring from the police academy. The city also increased starting pay by $2.25 to be competitive. The city also doesn’t require officers to live within city limits.

Staffing was so low that the city employed a temporary contract for services for 90 days with the Sheriff’s Department in February 2018. That contract had to be extended by 30 days because the police department was still short-staffed.

The contract the city entered into with Audrain County includes the presence of at least one deputy 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Sheriff Matt Oller addressed board members Tuesday night and noted there will be times when there is more than one officer present. He added that if more staff is needed for a situation that it would be provided.

The annual cost of the contract will start at $391,963. The contract will renew automatically and does not allow for an annual increase of more than three percent.

Berry also shared the approximate insurance savings the city could have gained from MIRMA (Missouri Intergovernmental Risk Management Association) if the police department had been closed. Since 2017 the city could have saved almost $167,000. Berry noted this money could be used for other important municipal needs.

“This is the hardest recommendation I’ve ever had to make,” Berry told those present at the meeting.

He went on to tell board members that it was his recommendation they vote in favor of entering into a contract with the county.

Sheriff Oller also addressed the board. He answered questions posed by citizens in attendance. Oller said he cares about Vandalia and that citizens can expect stability from the Sheriff’s Department.

Board members voted unanimously in favor of entering into a contract with Audrain County for 24-hour law enforcement services. It was noted the contract could be ended with 24-month written notice.

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