UPDATE: Palm Beach Shores merges town police department with Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Commissioners voted 5-0.
The merge is expected to happen on Nov. 1.
EARLIER STORY:
The small town of Palm Beach Shores is looking to switch its police force and contract with Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in a move the mayor says will save the town about half a million dollars a year.
“Our property values aren’t going up to offset the amount of money we have to spend to support the police and everything else,” says Mayor Myra Koutze.
Some residents have mounted a “Stay Blue” campaign to keep their town police.
“For one thing we’re used to small-town policing,” says Liz Ghitta Segall.
“In this town, we knew their names and they knew our names and gong to the sheriff’s dept is going to change that completely,” says former mayor Tom Mills.
