Cass County town ‘feels unsafe’ after only law enforcement is fired
GALVESTON, Ind. (WLFI) – Signs and ribbons are on display throughout the town of Galveston supporting former Town Marshal Shawn Durham who was fired Tuesday.
With no town marshal, Galveston now has to rely on the Cass County Sheriff’s Office – which is located about 20 minutes away.
Something residents Todd Fry and Suzy Adkins said is a concern.
“Having a family of six children, it’s really unnerving,” Fry said. “What if it’s an emergency? Someone breaks into your house? Someone gets robbed? It’s scary.”
Adkins said, “They are all the way over there [in Logansport], so how are they going to get here to solve that problem?”
Fry and Adkins live in the center of Galveston. Bot of them along with numerous other residents questioned the board’s decision.
John Hart, president of the board, made the decisive vote.
“It was tied 2-2 and I had to break the tie, but we was basing everything off the charges,” Hart said.
He and the board presented charges against Durham for not cooperating with the board’s requests regarding matters within the police department. He called it “insubordination” in the document.
These charges were laid out and given to the public at the meeting on Tuesday, but residents did not seem to care.
“They have a vendetta against Shawn for some reason,” said Fry. “I don’t know why.”
Adkins explained, “A lot of people in town are against the fact they fired him. In fact, almost everyone is angry about it.”
Hart said a new plan will be discussed at Monday’s board meeting to decide when a new town marshal will be hired. He says measures are being taken with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office to ensure the town’s safety.
“The sheriff and I have been in contact. There are extra patrols around here and there’s a deputy that lives in town,” Hart said. “There were days when Shawn wasn’t working, and we didn’t have anybody anyway, and there weren’t any problems.”
For the time being, it doesn’t look like common ground is going to be met.
“We want the people’s voice to be heard but it’s not. It doesn’t matter,” Fry expressed. “The council is supposed to be there for the people, but they are voting what they want and not what the people want.”
Hart added, “If your boss told you to come interview me and you told him no, what would happen?”
