AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: OCTOBER 2017 43 The Detroit Police Harbormaster Unit boat, with twin Evin- rude 250 hp engines, roars down the Detroit River near the Ambassador Bridge, between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The Harbormaster Unit provides life-saving duties along the river, and is a platform for its Dive Team, which recovers evidence and antique relics from Detroit’s past history. They have been stationed on Belle Isle, in the Detroit River, since 1889. T here are all kinds of en- tertainment. T h e r e a r e movies and amusement parks, strip clubs and sports bars. But if you really want to go get the most bang for your buck, go to a town meeting in a village with a population of 500 people and a one-man police force. There’s a catch, though – unless the chief is being ousted by a woman whose son the chief arrested for rape, it might not be as entertaining as the recent brouhaha in Ferrelview, Kansas. If you’ve worked a town hall event recently – espe- cially one where elderly taxpayers got a chance to confront politicians plan- ning to take away their health care – you know these things can get pretty wild. Recently the Ferrelview Board of Trustees started the process of getting rid of Police Chief Daniel Clayton – the only cop in town. Community members had some questions. But as is increasingly the case, the political class was dis- inclined to allow them to speak – at a public meeting where the whole idea is for taxpayers to do just that. It turns out that Chief Clayton arrested head- honcho board chair The- resa Wilson’s son for rape in 2015. Might this have something to do with her enthusiasm regarding the idea of getting rid of Clay- ton? Inquiring minds wanted to know but got stone- walled. “You cut the man’s hours to 20 hours a week and part-time pay. Bang that gavel all you want, I have a right to speak,” Bart Whorton shouted at Wilson. Board Chair Wilson told the crowd repeatedly she wasn’t allowing public comment at the special meeting about the police department. But people spoke up anyway. As for the meeting itself – it’s case study in hamlet government dysfunction, according to FOX affiliate 4KC. After putting off the decision to eliminate the local one-man police de- partment, they moved on to other things. The board made the im- portant decision (sarcasm) to force the chief to park his car in the City Hall garage. That wouldn’t be a big deal if his vehicle wasn’t routinely vandalized while parked at said location in the past. Some wondered who could have been the culprit or culprits. Audience members sug- gested it was the board that was responsible for the vandalism. It literally sounds like the second grade. At the end of the meet- ing the board voted to give the Chief 30 days to get his attorney ready for a meet- ing about his job future. Residents and taxpayers (otherwise known as “the little people” to politicians) don’t want to lose the only police officer they have. “I don’t want my Chief of Police terminated,” Judy Chaney shouted. Then board chair, Wil- son, told Chaney she would allow her nine- year-old daughter to host a lemonade stand at City Hall to raise funds to keep his job. Chaney said her daugh- ter told her “If you adults would stop acting worse than we act, we wouldn’t have these problems.” It’s something that’s usu- ally referred to with a term that rhymes with “split show.” Getting rid of the only cop in town is not only controversial, it’s danger- ous – and not just in the way you might think. In order to ensure their safety, the board hired Platte County deputies to provide for their security at significant cost. Oh yeah – there were also calls for Trustee Mel- vin Rhodes to apologize to the family of a 14-year-old rape victim for comments he made at a previous meeting. That’s the case that many say is why Wil- son wants to close the cop shop. But Rhodes refused and defended his remark that the 14-year-old rape victim “shouldn’t have been out at night.” Town meeting explodes There was plenty of finger-pointing.