Village Of Barker Police Department Gets Removed

There will not be a police department in the Village of Barker in Niagara County any longer. After a board meeting this week, it was voted that the Barker Police Department will be removed and the money will be re-distributed into other government programs in Barker.

According to an article found on Yahoo news, some of the board members Felt that the police department was an unneeded expense and not a revenue producing part of the government.

The village board also gave attendees packets of spread sheets — at the Monday night meeting — itemizing the cost of running its own police department. According to the sheets, $26,925 had been expended in 2021, or 5.7% of the budget. In years past, the policing service cost the village more than $60,000 such as in 2009 when 19% of the budget was used and again in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

There are some beautiful places to visit in the Barker area. Barker is in the Town of Somerset which is a long Lake Ontario and has some of the best views of a great lake anywhere.

There was a big fire in Barker in January 2019 that burned down the village hall. I remember watching the story on the news and the fire was a major loss because of all the history that was in that building. According to the news, the Barker Village Hall that burn down was at one time a railroad station as well. It is a very tight community with some great people!

It was a unanimous vote by the village board to remove the police department.