DELTA BOARD DECIDES TOWN WILL HAVE POLICEMAN

DELTA -- Wanted: A police officer.

That's the message from the Delta Board of Aldermen.

The board decided Monday night it would seek to hire a new police officer to replace Police Chief Marty Keys, who resigned last week after the aldermen initially had decided to eliminate his position.

Keys was the only police officer in the town of 450 people.

Mayor Gary Anderson said he knows of at least one person who already has expressed interest in the position.

"If you are ever going to bring new people and businesses in, you are going to have to have law enforcement," said Anderson.

It's uncertain, he said, how long it will take the city to hire an officer.

In the past, the board and the mayor had been at odds over the operation of the one-man police force. But Anderson said Tuesday he hopes city officials can put the controversy behind them.

He said Monday night's meeting was "really productive."

"At least we are all going in the same direction right now," said Anderson.

The mayor said the board agreed to a severance package for Keys.

City Attorney Joe Rice said Keys still must review the agreement and sign off on it before it can take effect.

Rice said the aldermen repealed the board's previous ordinance that had eliminated the city's police position.

City officials are looking at enacting a new ordinance that would clearly set out the duties of a city policeman.

There had been talk that the board might settle for a city marshal, which would be an elected position rather than appointed. But city officials Monday night made it clear they prefer hiring a police officer who would serve as a city employee.

Rice said city officials also hope to establish an active reserve police force whose members would receive training.

Meanwhile, Cape Girardeau County sheriff's deputies have visited Delta in recent days as part of their patrolling.

Anderson said he appreciated the efforts of the sheriff's department. "The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department has been cooperative through all this."