Springfield, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Robertson County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday that a decision had been made to close the doors and disband the Ridgetop Police Department. The sheriff’s office will now be responsible with servicing the area.
On May 3, the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office was notified by Ridgetop Mayor Tony Reasoner that the Ridgetop Police Department was going to move to a part-time department. In a meeting Tuesday evening, a final decision was made to fully close the police department.
Robertson County Sheriff’s Office will now respond to calls for law enforcement service inside the city limits of Ridgetop. This does place an increased call volume on the Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division.
The Sheriff’s Office is also currently responding to calls for service for Coopertown Police Department and Cross Plains Police Department when they are not available.
The City of Cross Plains currently has not filled two full-time police officer positions and is only utilizing one part-time officer. Additionally, the Coopertown Police Department is not operating 24/7 law enforcement services.
The Robertson County Sheriff, Michael Van Dyke, has requested the county commission provide funding for additional Patrol Deputies in FY 2019-2020. The measure is necessary for public safety and to minimize response times. “The Sheriff’s Office is dedicated to providing professional law enforcement services to every citizen of Robertson County, and must be allocated the resources to do so”, stated Sheriff Michael Van Dyke.