Pataskala Police Dept. Could Disappear
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Police Strapped For Cash
A local police department is strapped for cash.
NBC 4
A local police chief said his department needs help or it could be out of business.
PATASKALA, Ohio—A tense police situation put an already strapped force to the test over the weekend.
A local police chief said his department needs help or it could be out of business.
Patrolling officers create a sense of security in our communities and neighborhoods, right? What if there weren’t any patrolling officers?
It’s the situation one Central Ohio community could find itself in soon.
A home on Oxford Drive in Pataskala almost became the scene of a tragedy last Saturday.
Police responded to the home after they received a call from a woman who said her estranged husband, Phillip Swanagin, had a knife to her throat.
“He clearly went there, with the evidence we were able to find, with the intention of killing her and having us take care of him,” Pataskala Chief of Police Chris Forshey said.
When this all happened, Forshey said the department only had two officers on the streets—the result of an already strained department.
Officers alongside Licking County deputies were able to subdue Swanagin and take him into custody.
Tanya Swanagin, 41, was transported to a local hospital for lacerations to her leg, neck, and hands.
Phillip faces charges, including felonious assault and kidnapping.
The Pataskala Division of Police has a staff of 16 currently, down from 21 officers. Eleven of those 16 are uniformed officers.
The department isn’t at risk of losing more officers; it’s at risk of going under itself.
An existing levy that helps fund the department expires this year, and Forshey said an 8-mill replacement levy would be necessary to restore the department to a staff of 21.
“If there’s no money to run the department, obviously it can’t exist,” Forshey said.
City council is currently taking up the matter, and city officials told NBC 4 a levy of some kind likely will be placed on the November ballot.
The current levy will pay through next year, but Forshey said if the department doesn’t get more money and soon, it and about 17,000 Pataskala citizens will be in trouble.
“The city has a responsibility to provide basic services,” he said. “If we would disappear and no additional funding—with the sheriff’s office, they’re going to get a very, very basic service.”
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Reader Reactions
my fault i thought i read lacol, state , and federal agencies acted together as they did when they rounded up the other 12 or so people involed. i think they should get a part of the take myself, maybe you misunderstood my comments. from my memory, that fails me from time to time, i thought the locals where infact the sheriffs and pcd, as cpd was ivolved getting those in colunbus as well as your federal officers. it was going on in pcd backyard for over 10 yrs, i thought they had a part in it. either way 7.5 million in cash plus assets that incuded serverl cars, motorcycles, property, and rvs should be plenty to share was my point. mayb they arent walking much in thier own shoes then and thats why these people pick that area for these large deals. its a lot of millions in drugs and cash coming through your ara
OOOPPS, my mistake, the Licking County Sheriff’s office also had nothing to do with the “Daley bust”. Unfortunitly, they too were left out of the loop. This is a perfect example of need to check facts a little closer. So not only did the PPD get nothing, the LCSO also, gets nothing.
I would like to address the comment made by “scooldude”:
Yes, it was over a year ago that there was a major drug bust in Pataskala. However, if you will check your facts you will learn that the City of Pataskala, let alone the Pataskala Police department had NOTHING to do with it. It was the DEA and Licking County Sheriff’s Office. NOT, and I repeat, NOT the Pataskala Police Department. The PPD nor the City of Pataskala will be benefiting in any way shape or form from that bust. It was in “Pataskala” but NOT the Pataskala City Limits. As for a cocaine bust, again, not so. I could only wish that County and/or the Federal Government would see fit to share some of their take with the Pataskala Police Department. If it were only that easy. The last time the PPD was able to keep any money from any forfeiture was almost 8 years ago. I am not sharing anything private; everything I have mentioned here is public record. I just wanted to clear that up before anyone thinks that the PPD is living beyond their means. I would encourage anyone who has doubt to go to the department and spend a day in their shoes.
Thank you,
Dawn Garavuso
I should be surprised at some of the amazingly ignorant comments on here, but nothing surprises me these days. It’s the typical mob mentality in which everyone changes thier opinions when educated or they actually meet the people they are referring to. We are talking about Pataskala Ohio here. That is what the news story is about that you are commenting on. The police department is in a old run down building. The officers do not write tickets for 1 or 2 miles over the posted limit; if they did the place would have cops in Escalades and the levy would not be needed. Pataskala is not turning into a slum. There are corporate limits and city limits. Pataskala PD polices within city limits. Ever listen to a police scanner to here the calls? Nope, did not think so. Focus on the issue. If you are against city police forces, move to a village that doesn’t have one. If you don’t like cops because you get tickets, stop breaking the law. If you think there aren’t people in Pataskala that are grateful for the Pataskala police, think again.
I bet the Pataskala Police Department has a lot of expensive, impressive, but useless equipment. I bet its chief has a really nice office. I bet it writes a lot of traffic tickets to help pay for it all. What it really needs though is a helicopter fleet.
it was only a year ago they took over 4 million in cash from a drug dealer, and that number has went over 7.5 for the case and befor that they had the largest cocaine bust and i thought there was some cash in that case as well. why cant they use the money from that instead of the feds sweeping in after the fact and taking it all over when the work is done? doesnt seem right to me that the police force smaller than most nets the larger drug busts but cant afford to pay those doing the work. wheres all the cash going? the daily brothers (millionaire drug dealers) should float the cost for a few years as they have forfitted the property and money already.
More people more police that’s the way it works.People of Pataskala if you want your police to continue to write tickets for one or two miles over the speed limit and act like big-town police,because it is an act,then YOU pay for it and stop whinning.Otherwise there is a force called the licking county sheriffs office that will help you.You whinned cause you had no protection,now you’re whinning cause you have to pay for it!!!
Please do some research before you post folks. Resist the temptation to use any police department story as a lightning rod for your frustration. Now, Licking County is huge. Sheriff deputies are stretched here, as the department is not designed to perform regular police work only, ever heard Licking County jail? Warrants? Court duties? Should we have one police department for the entire state? Check your facts people.
The Highway Patrol can’t even pass their BAC tests without cheating. What we need to do is get rid of the Columbus Police, Gahanna Police, Dublin Police, Hilliard Police and others on the interstate policing for profit and let the Patrol handle that. Put those cruisers on the city streets where they belong. The Highway Patrol is not trained to be in the cities. They already try to duplicate what the Feds, Deputies and the officers already do - talk about duplication.
Call the sheriff.
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