Foley to re-start police department

The Foley City Council voted Tuesday to once again start up its police department, ending months of uncertainty.

Since the beginning of the year, the city in central Minnesota has been without any law enforcement policing city streets.

Voting 4-1, council members decided to hire an interim police chief to rebuild the town's own department.

The city of Foley has contracted since 2003 with the Benton County Sheriff's Department to provide law enforcement, but that relationship soured after the city tried renegotiating a new deal to cut costs.

In late 2011, the city council voted to hire a private security company. The company backed away from the deal as the state raised questions about how security would be carried out.

"I believe it's a good decision to have your own licensed peace officers patrolling your city, whether they do that through their own police department or contracting with the sheriff's office," said Neil Melton, executive director of the Peace Officers Standards Training Board, the state agency that licenses law enforcement officers in the state.

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