Davenport seeks new contract with sheriff

DAVENPORT — The City Council is looking to renegotiate their contract with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office in hopes of getting deputies specifically assigned to the city. The city says it is dissatisfied with the current $315,000 annual sheriff’s office contract, as it only provides general law enforcement services.

City Administrator Steve Goemmel said the city feels that they are receiving “drive-by” service, but paying a much higher rate.

“If all we are going to get is drive-by service, then we want the same rate as Sprague or other communities that are only paying $30,000 a year,” Goemmel said. “We don’t want the deputy that should be covering Davenport sitting at the jail babysitting inmates or acting as backup for a domestic violence call in Odessa so they are unable to respond to a call from Davenport.”

City council member Lance Strite said the city council is hoping to renegotiate the contract with the sheriff to include a “Davenport Task Force” that would consist of a lieutenant and two officers. The city is wrapping up their current four year contract with the sheriff and is required to give a one-year notice if the city does not plan to renew.

“Initially, we asked if we could just renew for one year, but that was denied,” Strite said. “We want to see changes in how our community is served or we will look at creating our own police department.”

Switching back to having their own police department is a shift the city is willing to make if changes aren’t made to the contract, Goemmel affirmed.

“Davenport used to have its own police department but there was a lawsuit from an employee that was fired and we also had an excessive force claim filed against the city. Although insurance covered those incidents, the county council at the time decided they didn’t want the liability,” Goemmel related. “But at this point nearly every small town in Lincoln County has their own police, so going back to having our own department wouldn’t be unusual.”

If the City of Davenport decides to go ahead with forming their own police department, it would likely be comprised of a chief, a patrol deputy and reserve deputies, Goemmel noted.

The next Davenport City Council meeting is slated for 7 p.m., Wednesday, July 8. The meeting may be in person at City Hall or via the a digital internet platform.