ADDYSTON, Ohio — Less than 24 hours after Village of Addyston council members voted 4-2 to dissolve their struggling police department, Chief Jacob Tenbrink told WCPO he was surprised by the aggressive timetable by which the department would be dismantled.
He said he learned in a phone call after the meeting that his last day would be Friday.
"It's definitely a shock to me, to my family. With it being November, and December right around the corner with Christmas, it's definitely going to take an impact on my family," Tenbrink said.
The chief said even with Friday marking the last shift for him and the one other officer working at Addyston, people living in the small village of less than 1,000 people shouldn't fear that there will be no one to respond in an emergency.
The town will be entering into a contract with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office to provide full-time protection in the area.
"With our citizens here, the sheriff's department is going to be coming here, taking over," he said. "With that being a big agency, they definitely have all the resources."
According to a contract provided to WCPO by the sheriff's office, the town will pay around $87,000 for the first year of service compared to the budgeted $300,000 for an independent police department.
Former Mayor and lifelong Addyston resident Gary O'Connor said he was confident in the county's ability to protect the village.
"They're going to have a stronger presence," O'Connor said.
Standing across from the INEOS plant, whose coming closure led to the police department's dissolution, O'Connor said it's sad to see what's happening to the village he grew up in.
"Disheartening to see the village turning into what it's turning into, but you can't stop it. The only thing I'd ask of council is to be more proactive, not reactive," he said.
Tenbrink said he would be looking for employment elsewhere.
He said he found it hard to believe the village itself could survive for long without INEOS's tax base, which regularly accounted for around $300,000 a year, according to village officials.
"Without them, I just don't see how we survive," he said.
Current Mayor Lisa Mear didn't respond to WCPO's requests for comment Wednesday. She'd told the WCPO I-Team that impacts to the village would be significant in the immediate aftermath of the facility's announcement.
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