Voters in Northfield Township approved a millage renewal and increase to support its police department. It passed with 56% of the vote, according to the unofficial results.
Voters approved the increase from about 4.2 mills to 5.4. It will last for five years. The department, which relies almost exclusively on millages for its funding, has been operating short staffed since 2008.
David Powell is a lieutenant with the Northfield PD. He says the additional funding will help them hire three full time officers to alleviate a massive shortage.
"This millage isn’t going toward salary or benefit increases for anybody. It’s going to replace our lack of staffing. It’s going to go toward training. We need training. We don’t have the manpower to train, we don’t have the funding to train."
One of the three full-time hires will be assigned as a public school resource officer.
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