The small town of Goodhue, Minnesota is set to be left without a police force after the entire department resigned in protest when the chief left his post over poor pay.
Goodhue Mayor Ellen Anderson-Buck said she was 'blindsided' by the move on Monday and the tiny community of just 1,300 say they were 'floored' by the decision.
The Police Chief, Josh Smith, said there is no end in sight as he hasn't had a single applicant to fill the vacancies. After his resignation, the town's only full-time officer and five part-time officers resigned as well.
He previously lamented the poor pay offered to officers, which stood at $22-an-hour in Goodhue, as he warned the town's city council that 'there's nobody getting into the game.'
'If you want to keep the PD, and this is something we want to continue going with, something needs to change dramatically and drastically, and it's got to happen now,' he said.
The entire Goodhue Police Department - made up of a chief, one full-time officer and five part-time officers - has resigned
Goodhue Mayor Ellen Anderson-Buck said she was 'blindsided' by the move
The mass-resignation came after a Goodhue City Council meeting on Monday evening and a discussion over police pay increases. The resignations were accepted in the meeting, with the whole force set to leave by August 24.
Smith had signaled he was intent on resigning weeks earlier, when he told officials he couldn't find any new recruits and was losing prospects to the big cities.
He told the city council that he personally had been offered a job in a city, and his own efforts to find more officers for Goodhue saw fell on deaf ears.
'I’ve called every PD around for the youngest guys out there, getting into the game. There's nobody getting into the game,' he said.
When Smith resigned, it was a decision that prompted the town's only full-time officer, Anthony Brecht, and five part-time officers to follow suit.
But for locals who fear they may find themselves living in lawlessness, Anderson-Buck assured the town that it would have police coverage.
'That is not an issue... they will be responding to calls,' she said, noting conversations she has had with the Goodhue Sheriff's office.
The mayor added that while she was 'a little bit blindsided' by the loss of her police department, the town was 'resilient and we're going to move forward.'
The town's residents praised its police department for providing 'excellent safety and security' in the small community of around 1,300
The town's officials slated the loss of their prospective officers to nearby cities
With the tiny town losing all seven of its officers, Goodhue's police chief admitted that he can't find anyone to fill the vacancies because 'there's nobody getting into the game'
Smith said he will continue to serve in his position as chief until August 24, which is when all his officers decided to join him in leaving the force.
Residents slammed the loss of the police force, with one telling NBC News she was 'floored' by the news.
Another said the force will be missed in the community, which experiences very little crime, saying: 'I can probably speak for everyone when I say that they provided excellent safety and security to our community. And the small-town policing that they did, we want that back.'
The Goodhue Police Department did not immediately respond when reached for comment.
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