Sheriff’s office to oversee police patrol operations in Ashland

ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Sheriff's Office will take over command of police operations in Ashland starting Thursday morning.

The switch will happen at 7 a.m., when the sheriff's office "will assume command of patrol operations for the City of Ashland and the Ashland Police Department," the City of Ashland said in a news release.

The sheriff's office will direct Ashland police scheduling and provide patrol coverage, according to the release.

Ashland is without a police chief after Gabe Edwards was placed on administrative leave earlier this week. The Ashland Board of Aldermen met Tuesday night, but did not appoint an interim chief of police.

"Ashland has reached out to the sheriff's office to request assistance in covering law enforcement operations in the City," Brian Leer, of the Boone County Sheriff's Office, said. "An enforcement lieutenant will be assigned to the City of Ashland,. As needed, we may assign additional personnel to assist in covering law enforcement operations in the City of Ashland while they are continuing to take care of the personnel matters and get staffing to acceptable levels." 

Leer added the Sheriff's Office is glad to help Ashland maintain its police department.

"They are used to having a full-service police department down there. And so, we want to help them maintain that safety and security and public service that the citizens out there have grown accustomed to," Leer said.

The Boone County Sheriff's Office has had staffing issues of its own for the past few years, but Leer said it is nothing the Sheriff's Office hasn't handled before.

"We deal with hurdles on a regular basis, but you know, it's one of those things if they don't have the staffing, we're going to be ending up down there anyways," Leer said.  

The arrangement will remain in place until an interim chief is appointed, according to the release.