Hanceville hires public safety consultant to help ‘clean up’ after police department was disbanded

HANCEVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The Hanceville City Council announced during its meeting Thursday that it has hired a public safety consultant to help them ‘clean up’ some outstanding issues after an investigation led to the disbanding of the police department.

City councilmember John Stam said during the meeting that the council hired David Thompson to act as a public safety consultant. He said the decision came after the hiring committee did several interviews and the city had spoken to its insurance company. Stam said Thompson came to them highly recommended.

Some of Thompson’s responsibilities will include helping revise policies and “build a new foundation” for bringing the department back in the future.

Thompson spoke at the end of the meeting, talking about his decades of experience in law enforcement. He said he started in law enforcement as an explorer with the Trussville Police Department at 14 years old then became a deputy sheriff when he was 21.

He spent over 30 years with Jefferson County before retiring about six years ago, when he went into the public safety consulting business.

“I live about 15 minutes from here [Hanceville], and this is a great opportunity for the city to start a whole new situation where you build from the ground up. Thompson said. “While I know it’s been a big crisis for the city, it’s also a great opportunity to build a foundation and build things the right way.”

The hiring comes after months of meetings where city council members have spent time trying to decide what comes next for their police department.

The city council decided to disband the Hanceville Police Department in March following an investigation into a dispatcher’s death that led to criminal charges being filed against several then-Hanceville police officers. Twelve staff members remained after five officers, including the chief, were indicted in February.

Since the arrests were announced by the Cullman County District Attorney, Hanceville’s council has been debating to move forward. They briefly suspended the police department and asked the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement services for the area. Mayor Jim Sawyer then announced the decision to disband the department in March.

The council had looked at hiring a new chief and rebuilding the department, but that got put on hold in May. The city’s insurance company said they wouldn’t renew their coverage due to the issues with the police department.

Hanceville ultimately accepted the insurance company’s condition that in order to keep its insurance policy, the city would not re-establish a police department for at least another year.

The company agreed to revisit the idea of establishing a police department in July 2026.

Following the decision to disband its police department, the city also began discussing liquidating department assets such as fleet vehicles. City councilmember Kenneth Cornelius said at the time that they have about 15 vehicles, and nine are still on loan.

During Thursday’s meeting, the council decided to officially sell two of their vehicles to help pay off loans.