Kemmerer mayor Anthony Tomassi, Kemmerer city administrator Andrew Nelson and Kemmerer City councilman Eric Rudy visited the Diamondville town council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 5, to gauge the Diamondville council’s interest in discussing a unified police department.

Tomassi referenced the survey that the City of Kemmerer distributed earlier this year, in which 26 percent of respondents said the police department was too large for the community.

“Tonight, we don’t have a plan,” Tomassi said. “It’s not like we’re coming here and saying, ‘Well this is what we want to do,’ because we don’t know how this would work. The only thing we’re here tonight to ask is if the town of Diamondville would be interested in sitting down with a couple of people from Kemmerer’s elected officials to discuss this.”

Tomassi said he and the Kemmerer council think that it would save both communities money and would improve the amount of police coverage in both communities.

The Kemmerer mayor said any discussion between the two councils should probably include members of law enforcement who have experience with a unified police force, like Sublette County.

Diamondville councilman Chuck Smith followed Mayor Tomassi’s comments.

“Without an actual plan and putting pen to paper, I don’t know how you come up with the conclusion that you’d save money,” Smith said.

“If at the end of the day we find out that it’s not a good idea, we won’t pursue it, but we won’t know until we sit down and make a plan,” Tomassi said.

Diamondville councilwoman Kathy Stukel said she thinks “it would be a good idea to each get our numbers together and get input from the public and the police chiefs.”

Diamondville councilman Clint Bowen said he thinks “we’re doing fine on our own.”

Diamondville mayor Eric Backman read a letter from resident Mike Hunzi, who couldn’t attend the meeting but said he was “not worried about losing community identity, but (was) worried about losing (his) voice in local government.”

Diamondville Police Chief Mike Thompson voiced his opinion about a unified police force.

“If the police departments don’t want to merge and the governing bodies force them to do so, I can foresee problems with that,” Chief Thompson said.

Tomassi reminded the council and the public again that representatives from Kemmerer were attending the meeting just to gauge interest in a discussion, not to present a plan.

Thompson refuted the proposal that a unified police department would save money, stating that dispatch fees are calculated by the number of officers, and the department would also have to update uniforms and logos on police vehicles.

“I don’t think money is the reason to do this,” Chief Thompson said. “Right now, as a police department, we’re opposed to the change.”

Other Diamondville police officers chimed in.

“Most people don’t understand what we do,” said Diamondville police officer Joe Tatangelo. “It’s not an easy job.”

Nelson agreed the process would involve lots of discussion between city councils, law enforcement and the public.

“We’d be blazing new ground, and it would have to be done right,” Nelson said. “It would definitely be a long-term process.

The Diamondville council agreed to have each council discuss the matter internally and then meet sometime next month to compare their findings.

“We do appreciate your time,” Tomassi said.