MiddletownJournal.com

GRATIS — The last police chief hired by the village of Gratis lasted only two days on the job.

The one before that is facing six felony charges in Butler County for impersonating a police officer and deception to obtain dangerous drugs.

Now the village of just under 1,000 residents on Preble County's southern border is hoping the third time will be the charm.

Stephen Stewart was chief for about a year before he was asked to resign at the end of 2007, said Denzil Bratton, the village's mayor and acting police chief. That was before Bratton and the village council learned Stewart had been indicted Feb. 27 on two counts of impersonating a police officer and one count of deception to obtain dangerous drugs. A grand jury added three more counts of deception March 12, according to Butler County court records.

The village then hired a 24-year-old man from Elmwood Place, Ohio, who worked about two days and then resigned in March, Bratton said.

The village has four part-time patrolmen who make minimum wage, Bratton said. The chief position is also part time and pays $10 per hour.

"That's all we can afford to pay," Bratton said. "It's just a small town problem...It's hard for a little village to pay what a larger community can pay."

Bratton said a retired police officer capable of handling the department's paper work while still doing patrols would be ideal for the village, where traffic is the major issue facing law-enforcement. He said the village has considered turning over law-enforcement to the Preble County Sheriff's Office, but decided against it because of concerns over cost and response times.

"If we rely on them totally they've got to be compensated for it," Bratton said. "We're trying to keep our own department."

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2511 or dwells@coxohio.com.

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