The entire police force of the city resigns, citing police safety concerns

The entire police department of Blandford, a small Massachusetts town, resigned Monday night, citing various security concerns

. If you have a problem with police, fire or medical emergencies, please continue to call 911 as you normally would. The entire Blandford Police Department has resigned tonight, with immediate effect, "wrote the department's Facebook post

For the moment, 911 appeals will be handled by county authorities and other forces police chief, Roberta Sarnacki, issued a signed statement giving detailed reasoning for their resignation.

"The city asks officers to patrol in cars that have not been killed. Air conditioning, no snow tires and no 4×4 They ask us to do it without radio coverage, without real backup as needed, and all this for $ 14 or $ 15 / hour, "reads in the press release.

Sarnacki stated that several police escorts had problems with their brakes and that the Ministry's bulletproof vests had passed their expiration date.

"We should not be afraid of our own equipment the same way we fear criminals"

But Selectboard President Cara Letendre told NBC News that she had given the officers and Sarnacki an opportunity to address their concerns.

"They were at a selection meeting last Monday, I asked them to d & # 39; between them if they had any concerns but they did not address any of them and were only concerned about the post of police chief posted, "Letendre said.

It was at this meeting where Sarnacki says that she felt insulted by the panel to post the position of police chief even after the other officers spoke highly of it. she. Sarnacki was to be acting chief of police only from June 30 to July 30, while the Selectboard was considering several options for the department

"In a small town, it is difficult to have a police force with the l & # 39; 39, tax base ". We considered three possibilities: to maintain the same police service, to rely more on the state police or to consider regionalization. "

The departments of rural cities and major cities of the country suffer for years from a decrease in wages, a shortage of officers and recruits and general anti-police attitudes.

One option considered by the council is to combine the police department of Chester, a neighboring city, with that of Blandford. Sarnacki believed that the commission wanted to replace her with the chief of police in Chester, she said.