Indiana Town's Full Police Quits In Protest Of Allegedly Corrupt Council

By Stephen Gossett in News on Dec 15, 2016 3:38PM

Getty Images / Photo: Brad Thompson

A small town in central Indiana was left without a police force after the full department staff resigned in protest earlier this week after officers were allegedly asked to perform illegal actions by the Town Council, according to the Associated Press.

Town Marshal and four-year veteran Michael Thomison and his four unpaid deputies (it is a very small town, apparently) tendered letters of resignation to the Bunker Hill town board on Monday, as did the local building commissioner.

Officers were allegedly asked by council members to run background checks on some of their colleagues on the council; prompted to improperly turn over police reports; and were allegedly reprimanded for pulling over council members and/or their spouses.

“We can’t make this up,” Thomison told Buzzfeed. “They were just not receptive to having a police department.”

Apparently, the offending council members were either willfully or unwittingly ignorant that their alleged behavior was ethically and legally out of bounds. “I have had to educate them on the things they were asking from me, and explained that I would not take part in any of these actions," Thomison said, according to the Tribune.

According to Buzzfeed, Thomison said he was also restricted by the town council to working just below 30 hours after he underwent surgery for cancer in January—so that the local government could be off the hook for insurance costs.

County Sheriff's deputies will patrol Bunker Hill—which has a population of roughly 800—until a new marshal takes over.

Good (read: bad) to see that alleged council-member chicanery isn't localized to the immediate area.