News

Actions

Ohio village lays off entire police force

Posted at 7:30 AM, Jan 04, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-04 07:30:24-05

A southwestern Ohio village no longer has a police force.

The Lynchburg Police Department says all officers and commanders lost their jobs on Friday at the order of Terry Burden, the new mayor of the suburban Cincinnati village.

Burden could not be reached for comment Friday night.

Sheriff Donnie Barrera says he found out about the layoffs around 5 p.m. Friday. The village will now be patrolled by the Highland County Sheriff's Office.

A 2009 blog post from former Mayor Jeremy Shaffer indicated that the village had been struggling with the police budget.

It is unknown if budget constraints contributed to the layoffs.

Lynchburg fired its police staff two years ago as well, citing financial woes. A small force of mainly volunteers stepped in a few weeks later.