News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Sparta Police Chief Doug Goff said a new police department is a need in the next three to five years.
Goff told the Board of Aldermen about the cramped facility during a work session after Alderman Jim Floyd asked about the department’s long-term plan. Goff said the department has outgrown the current facility.
“I would like to see at some point in the future a new police department,” Goff said. “We have to beg, borrow and steal every time we have a meeting trying to find a place to do training.”
The current police station is a renovated doctor’s office that is over 40-years-old. Goff said the department has 15 officers in total.
Goff said an extra officer position and more funding for training would also be included on his wish list.
“Every time that we lose someone or someone retires, it just throws everything off,” Goff said. “It’s like not having enough automobiles. (…) We also got to keep up with employee education. We are finding a lot of training is free, but we are having a hard time sending people, because it leaves us short handed.”
