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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