Residents in one Virginia town are willing to accept higher water bills if it means they won’t be losing their police department any time soon.

Purcellville, located in Loudoun County, recently made a big purchase. After constructing a wastewater treatment facility, they found themselves about $50 million in debt. The town council then voted to help pay the bill by eliminating the town’s police force. By relying on the county sheriff for law enforcement coverage, they’d be able to help close the funding gap caused by the fancy new facility. They claimed doing away with the police department would save $3 million a year, allowing the town to lower water and wastewater rates by 9% and 11% respectively and adopt an equalized real estate tax rate.

But things didn’t go as planned for the governing body of the 9,000-person town. At a town council meeting in April, in front of a standing-room-only crowd of citizens, the council reversed course and voted to keep the police department around. The change in position appears to have largely been spurred by passionate pleas from citizens, as well as recall petitions to remove several councilmembers and the vice mayor from office.

He voted to disband the department, without any effort to recuse himself, about a week after he
was fired from it.

A main point of contention was the abrupt way in which the council had attempted to abolish the police department, blindsiding even the chief of police. One resident, speaking at the meeting, told the council, “The four of you snuck agenda items in at the end of the meeting and took away my lawful right to comment on them.”

Even the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office expressed reservations about the idea, pointing out that the police department regularly hosts a range of community initiatives — from homework clubs and reading programs to a drug takeback program and food and school supply drives — plus managing the planning, traffic and safety for the town’s July 4 and Christmas parades and Halloween celebration, as well as its annual food and wine festival. Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tom Julia told Loudon Now that the agency had not been part of any discussions regarding logistics, but that the town would either need to accept a reduction in such services or pay the county agency extra to take them on. “Is the expectation that we’re going to do what we do for everyone else in the county? Or is there expectation that we will do more, and if so, who will pay for that?” he asked.

Still, in all fairness, doesn’t a group of elected representatives have the right to do what’s best for the city? As appointed (not elected) officials, shouldn’t police officers be willing to go away quietly, if that’s what the people (through their elected representatives) decide?

Perhaps, but it appears that the attempt to abolish the department may have been more than a simple budget decision. The vice mayor is a man named Ben Nett. Up until about a week before he voted to disband the police department, he might have also answered to Officer Nett. That’s right, he was apparently a member of the Purcellville Police Department until he was fired on April 8. He voted to disband it, without any effort to recuse himself, about a week after he was fired.

It seems the big target on the P.D.’s back is not the only shady thing going on at the city. Recently, the council appointed a former mayor to be the town manager, without even interviewing any of the other people who applied. In their defense, there were 82 other applicants, so what’s the chance of finding anyone worthwhile?

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once pointed out that “sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant.” His implication was that transparency naturally does a great deal to mitigate corruption and other questionable shenanigans. The Town of Purcellville will hopefully benefit from the glare of attention it’s currently experiencing. In the meantime, the Purcellville Police Department will go on serving and protecting its citizens, at least for the time being. The council voted to fund the department through 2026, a decision that was greeted by cheers from the residents in attendance. As for Nett, he’s currently the subject of an investigation for violation of conflict-of-interest laws.