In the minds of many people, small-town policing is as easy as Sheriff Andy Taylor made it appear in the 1960s television series The Andy Griffith Show. In the fictional town of Mayberry, life was nearly perfect.  

But how does reality stand up against the mythology of Mayberry? Certainly, working for small agencies carries its own downsides, burdens and challenges, but it also has many advantages. The perception that small-town officers are lazy or inept is often touted but isn’t accurate. Incompetence can be found in every police agency, large or small.

What size of jurisdiction qualifies as a small town? According to federal statistics, about 50% of police departments in the U.S. serve communities of less than 10,000 residents.  About 70% of police agencies in the U.S. have 10 or fewer commissioned officers.  Let’s allow either of these two statistics to serve as our definition of small towns.

Mayberry is frequently the term used for a wholesome, crime-free small town. It would be rare indeed to find any town in this nation with little or no crime and nary a criminal lurking about. Sheriff Andy Taylor didn’t carry a firearm in most episodes because, in Mayberry, he didn’t need one. The reality is that Mayberry doesn’t exist except in reruns.  

The cast of eccentric characters from the show may remind us of others we have known, but unlike Mayberry, hardened, dangerous criminals operate in small towns, too. Not so long ago, one of our own officers was ambushed and shot twice in the back by someone who has no concept of wholesomeness. This type of incident will shatter any rosy picture one might have of small-town life. Thankfully, our officer survived due in large part to his ballistic vest.

Today’s small towns differ from large cities primarily by population and sheer number of reported crimes. Most crimes in big cities are similar to those in small towns, they’re just committed in larger numbers.  

What about the level of competence of the officers employed by small agencies? In most cases, small-town officers are as intelligent and dedicated as their brothers and sisters in larger jurisdictions. However, larger agencies offer opportunities to their employees that rural officers rarely have. This is why many small-town agencies are stepping stones for officers with high ambitions.

One of Mayberry’s more controversial characters was Deputy Barney Fife. While Barney sought to be a proficient lawman, he often found himself enmeshed in ridiculous situations in no small measure because of his incompetence. It was his boss, Sheriff Taylor, who bailed Barney out of his mess in a way that usually allowed him to save face. Small-town officers are too often castigated as Barney Fife types by naysayers. It’s unfair, and quite frankly, offensive, to the small-town officers who serve their communities honorably.

What are the downsides to policing in a small town? Lower pay, reduced benefits and fewer opportunities for advancement are at the top of the list. Often, officers from smaller jurisdictions have fewer resources available (or accessible in a timely manner).  This leads to limited support during critical incidents, where the small-town officer may be the only law enforcement officer present, at least initially. Equipment available to officers in small jurisdictions is rarely as sophisticated as the high-tech items typically owned by larger departments. The financial resources are not the same, and it shows.

Many small-town officers purchase their own firearms, duty belts or, in more rare cases, their own patrol cars. So, what is the appeal of working for a small town? For officers who’ve had a mottled history with other departments, it’s a second chance. For retired officers, it’s an opportunity to stay on the job without the hectic hustle and bustle of a big city. Largely, many small-town officers enjoy the autonomy of the job. They normally don’t have supervisors working the same shift or regularly looking over their shoulders while conducting business. This, in the minds of many, is worth the difference in pay and benefits. Additionally, small-town officers are frequently allowed to pursue specialized training as opposed to larger jurisdictions where, beyond the core courses, officers may be limited to training that fits within their specific job descriptions (traffic, felony crimes investigations, accident investigations, etc.).

Officers in smaller jurisdictions have several advantages over their larger city counterparts: small-town officers are familiar with the vast majority of their troublemakers. This list of suspects in the small-town officer’s head is like a database of the who’s who of local criminals. In larger jurisdictions, detectives must scour through and narrow down the list of hundreds, if not thousands, of potential suspects. Further, small-town officers have less red tape to deal with when requesting job-related items, assignments, training or simply a one-on-one with the police chief. Lastly, officers in small towns tend to have greater input and influence in making changes such as equipment purchases or policy and procedure changes. An argument could be made that small-town officers are more well-rounded in their knowledge than their larger jurisdiction counterparts. When a small-town officer arrives at the scene of a crime, he or she will work on the case from the beginning to the end.

Being looked down upon for being a small-town officer is perhaps the greatest injustice.  It’s easy to cast dispersions on “local yokels” for things that don’t go right at a call, but it happens in larger jurisdictions, too. Being incompetent, lackadaisical or corrupt is not a matter of department size. In fact, statistically, corrupt officers within small agencies are rarer than in large departments.

So, is it true that many small-town officers would not “cut it” on a larger department?  Possibly, as most small agencies have less rigorous hiring standards. On a smaller department, you may find officers who would not meet the height to weight restrictions found in many big departments. Additionally, many small departments do not require physical or psychological exams or may be more likely to overlook minor criminal convictions in the applicant’s past. This certainly isn’t true of every small department in this country, but by and large it is accurate, especially in this police applicant drought we have been dealing with over the past few years.

Another criticism against small-town policing is the sometimes tumultuous political climate of some jurisdictions. Small-town officers may often come into contact with city council members or the mayor in the course of their duties. They may also have direct dealings with local business owners or civic leaders who are active in local decision-making. It is a fact that small-town officers are held to account by more of the community than their larger city counterparts. It can be a tricky road to navigate at times.

Mayberry would be a wonderful place to work, but unfortunately, it exists only in Hollywood film reels. Small-town officers do a tough job in sometimes complex situations that have political tendrils that larger city officers do not deal with regularly. They perform their duties without the benefit of state-of-the-art equipment or throngs of backup officers to render assistance. All police officers in this nation deserve our hearty praise and appreciation, and this is uniquely true for our small-town officers.