HAMPTON, Ill. — The Rock Island County Sheriff's Office is patrolling the streets of Hampton, as of Tuesday, Dec. 12.
Village board president Christopher Bornhoeft said deputies were on patrol since the early morning and were at Hampton School.
This comes after the board voted on Monday, Dec. 11 to dissolve the Hampton Police Department and rely on the sheriff's office for police protection.
Dozens of residents were at the board meeting, spending well over an hour voicing concerns. "I have two children in the school. I grew up in the school. The school is left to feel unprotected," one resident said.
Some neighbors were worried about response times. "I ran into a situation where I had to call 911 because there was a person in my mother's yard. If I was not a concealed carry holder, what would have happened?" another resident said.
Sheriff Darren Hart told News 8's Jonathan Fong the service will be reliable, as Hampton's police station will become an outpost for the sheriff's department, and they are already familiar with the area. "We've been supplementing really the Hampton Police Department for quite some time. Many months, we're handling 50% or more of their call load," Hart said.
911 calls in Hampton now route to the sheriff's office, helping to make service more consistent. "It will also assist our officers to respond as quickly as possible," Hart said.
Bornhoeft said the village tried using federal COVID funds for years and cutting police costs from $400,000 to $300,000 in April. "It became apparent that the money that we were spending, we were not able to get the patrols the community deserved," he explained.
The village board and sheriff's office are working on a long-term contract for police services. Hart said six deputies would be regularly assigned to Hampton.
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