Savannah-Chatham Metro may not exist much longer

[NoWingedAngel]

The preservation of the Savannah-Chatham police department is looking increasingly unlikely.

There are two major disputes preventing the formation of a new merger contract that both sides say they are unwilling to budge on — basically concerning costs and control. Meanwhile, there isn’t even a consensus on what has been agreed to, and the history behind the merger is in dispute.

On Friday, Chatham County Commissioners are expected to consider how to proceed after County Manager Lee Smith recommended the creation of an independent police force during a workshop Dec. 17. Commissioners voted on Sept. 26 to give the city their 18-month notice that they intended to terminate the police merger agreement, while voicing hope at the time that a new agreement could be reached to prevent the split.

The county wants police precincts to be entirely located within the unincorporated area or the city, with no crossover.

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That's a real shame. Any of you with pending applications or thinking about applying may want to dial it back until this ****ing contest works itself out. I feel for the men and women of this department.

What I don't understand is how Chatham County can just up and make its own county police force again. Georgia law currently states that a county police department can only be formed by vote from the citizenry. I'm not sure if this applies here, since Chatham County used to have its own department separate from Savannah PD.

I smell a service-agreement lawsuit a-brewing... this will make Gwinnett County's boondoggle look like a 3rd-grade shoving match.

[CCCSD]

Possibly since it's still in existence but merged. You DO still have the original agencies. They just split back up.

[DP23]

Wow I'm in the process now.

[dontknowwhy]

I don't really think a split would be a bad thing. The area is too large with too many levels of diversity to work smoothly. Also, blanket policies that work in the historic district don't always work that well in areas off I16. Either split to two departments like before or let the SO take over the county while the city handles its self.

[NoWingedAngel]

In the latest chapter in the debate between city and county officials, Chatham County Commission Chairman Al Scott said his board has sent the city of Savannah another offer to maintain the merged Savannah-Chatham police department.

The document approved Friday by the commission was the fifth alternative proposed to the initial police merger agreement, passed in 2003, that established the joint city-county department in 2005.

The county’s vote was 7-2 with commissioners Patrick Farrell and Dean Kicklighter dissenting.

The Savannah City Council has 30 days to respond to the county’s proposal. If the city approves the agreement, it would go into effect March 1.

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[Kieth M.]

Wow, someplace disintegrating after having that humble civil servant, yet stellar genius Michael Berkow in charge? Incredible!

[NoWingedAngel]

It appears that I may have been right about the reformation of Chatham County Police. The county is saying a referendum doesn't matter and the city is saying they disagree with that and that the voters should decide.

Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson has failed to convince Chatham County Commission Chairman Al Scott that an outside mediator is the answer in her latest attempt to preserve the Savannah-Chatham police department.

Meanwhile, a new dispute may be brewing between the two governments in regard to state legislation controlling the formation of county police departments.

In a letter to the mayor Wednesday, Scott said that he was not opposed to the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce’s offer to pay for the mediator, but he saw the mayor’s request on Monday to take the group up on the offer as more of a delaying tactic rather than an attempt to reach a meaningful agreement.

Jackson also said it is time to hold a referendum if the commissioners believe that creating a separate department would be good for the community.

“Let the people of Chatham County decide this issue once and for all,” she said.

Georgia law requires a referendum be conducted and supported by residents before a county police department can be created. However, there is an exception for county departments formed before 1992, when the police force remains in existence and operational.

The Chatham County Police Department had operated since 1912 before the merger with Savannah was completed in 2005.

The county attorney has informed commissioners that no referendum would be necessary because a county department has been in continued existence, said County Commissioner Tony Center.

“I don’t think that law applies,” Center said.

However, city spokesman Bret Bell said the county’s stance that no referendum is required was a novel one.

“That’s not our reading of the law,” Bell said.

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[GopherFanatic19]

I would like to see Chatham go back to a county agency.