More Springfield Township deputy patrols on May ballot

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WTVG) - A big decision this election day for voters in Springfield Township. Are they willing to pay for additional police presence?

They currently rely on the Lucas County Sheriff’s Department but more money is needed to keep up with the demand

The department patrolling those streets would stay the same, the question for voters is do they want more of a consistent presence.

It might soon be easier to spot one of the Issue 5 campaign signs in Springfield Township than someone in line at Mr. Freeze or Mr. G’s barn. Issue 5 is about the amount and frequency of Lucas County Sheriff deputy patrols.

“I don’t want to come across as trying to scare people into this. I think this is just what we need as a community. We need to have policing services,” said Springfield Township Trustee Bob Bethel.

Bethel says this isn’t a new idea, additional policing had been on a previous ballot.

This time is different because the Sheriff told the township what they’re paying for patrols isn’t enough to cover the roughly 1100 “911″ calls from the township monthly.

“I’ve come to look at it as he’s not shoving it down our throat, he’s giving us a kick in the rear to say this is something we should have been doing a long time ago. It’s overdue,” said Bethel.

Springfield Township is the third largest community in Lucas County behind Toledo and Sylvania Township. It’s the only one of the largest not to have a police force.

Voters this may will have a 4.2 mil levy on the ballot.

If approved, that will become 3 deputy patrols 24-7, a community resource officer and detective work already provided by the sheriff’s office.

“I don’t like paying more taxes myself. I don’t like the idea of doing that but the alternative is not good. The alternative is not to have police services,” said Bethel.

Bethel says the Township did explore starting its own police department but it would have cost twice what they’ll pay the Sheriff’s office.

They even talked to other neighboring departments like Holland Police but no department was equipped to handle this kind of call volume.

Early voting is open. Election day is May 3rd.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.