Darien votes to keep police protection
Complete election results
Click here to view complete results from Tuesday's election.
Village of Darien
-- Referendum: “Should the village of Darien reduce 24-hour coverage by village of Darien police, therefore reducing the village of Darien budget and tax levy?”
No 203
Yes 152
DARIEN — Despite recent controversy, village of Darien voters on Tuesday said they want to keep police protection a village matter.
Residents voted 203-152 against reducing the village police department.
The question: “Should the village of Darien reduce 24-hour coverage by village of Darien police, therefore reducing the village of Darien budget and tax levy?”
The point of the non-binding referendum was to gauge village opinion as the board looks to trim the budget, board member Kurt Zipp said.
If residents seemed willing, the village could have turned to alternative forms of police coverage including coverage from the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office.
At the moment, the police department makes up basically half the village’s budget, Zipp said.
“In order to make any budget changes that are going to affect a person’s tax bill, the (police department) budget has to be affected,” Zipp said. “The question really was whether the village residents really wanted to maintain 24-hour police coverage no matter what the cost.”
The department—particularly Chief Steve DeVoy—has been under investigation since Dec. 1, when employees found surveillance cameras in the department.
That discovery led to two investigations and to DeVoy’s eventual firing.
A disciplinary hearing is pending to make the village board’s decision final.
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Apr 9, 2009 at 9:59 p.m.
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No you're not the only ones. Lots of us see it and that's why we supported who we did. I say give them a chance and quit criticizing before you see what they can do for us.
Apr 9, 2009 at 10:22 a.m.
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oplease - you are so right!! I'm begining to think that we are the only ones who can see the truth though the big mound of crap the village has been trying to feed us
Apr 9, 2009 at 9:32 a.m.
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4_2Levelheaded: were you around during the day when DeVoy would've been patrolling? I read a report published by him that said he patrolled over 2,400 miles (in a 1 sq. mile village) in 2007, plus worked approximately 100 hours O.T. - how do you do accomplish that by sitting and looking at emails? As far as Bobby-boy riding with DeVoy, I know that didn't happen, DeVoy was the one that crushed his feelings because he found out Bobby-boy was engaging in activities that he shouldn't have been. Like impersation of an officer. Again, you're speaking without knowing the truth. The truth is yet to come out.
By the way, where's that new squad that the tax payers bought? Is Maltese trying to decide on pink or purple graphics for himself?
Apr 9, 2009 at 7:32 a.m.
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He will not be back,can you blame him?Too many hicks.After the big law suit he will not have to work again..........
Apr 9, 2009 at 5:40 a.m.
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Oh that's right he drove Bobby Boy around every now and again.
Apr 9, 2009 at 5:39 a.m.
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I voted FOR 24hr police protection and I most certainly do not want Devoy back. especially after seeing some of the emails. On top of when did he ever patrol?
Apr 8, 2009 at 10:57 p.m.
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I certainly don't think that everyone in Darien that voted for 24-hour police coverage wants DeVoy back! The Devoy case and staffing for the PD are two totally different issues. The new board is still going to have to look at the PD budget if they want to get the full budget under control. Cutting personnel is an easy way to cut a big chunk of money from the budget, but they'll have to look at ways of decreasing spending while still providing 24-hour coverage.
Apr 8, 2009 at 10:31 p.m.
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The majority of people voted to keep the current level of police protection, and those voters are loyal to the chief who has been here all these years.
It could happen, why don't we wait to hear his side?
Apr 8, 2009 at 5:34 p.m.
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HAH...YOU HONESTLY THINK HE'S COMING BACK NOW!
Apr 8, 2009 at 5:26 p.m.
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please101 Good luck with that.
Apr 8, 2009 at 4:21 p.m.
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The people have spoken!! Now it is time for all of us to stand up and tell the board we want our chief back!!!
Apr 8, 2009 at 9:44 a.m.
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He has plenty of time to do ride alongs now! Saddle up Maltese, ya'll be goin' to fight some crime n stuff.
Apr 8, 2009 at 8:15 a.m.
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Nah; he's retired.
Apr 8, 2009 at 5:36 a.m.
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Maybe Metzner can apply for a police job.HA..Ha.
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