More police officers will soon be on the streets of Lyndon after a merger with a local police department allowed the city to create its own.
The Graymoor-Devondale Police Department is now known at the Lyndon Police Department. The announcement was made Tuesday with Lyndon Mayor Brent Hagan and Chief Grady Throneberry.
"We feel we can tailor services to meet the needs of our community and its residents," Hagan said. "We can provide a visible presence in our community."
Graymoor-Devondale was its own department for 13 years. The department currently has 20 officers.
But Hagan said it just made more economic sense to partner with the Graymoor-Devondale on a four-year contract - basically operating as it has - but officers will now be Lyndon city employees.
Taxes will not increase due to the merger.
"Because Lyndon has 12,000 residents and over 400 businesses, our tax base is four times larger than that of Graymoor," Hagan said.
But the reason for the change was more than just financial. LMPD's 8th Division would assist to cover the area, but with the department now 300 officers short, it had become apparent LMPD could no longer complete coverage and adequate response to the Lyndon area.
The Graymoor-Devondale Police Department is headquartered on Westport Road, and it will still serve as headquarters for Lyndon Police until new headquarters can be built.
Most of the calls Graymoor-Devondale responds to is property damage.
"We all understand that nobody operates in a vacuum, and nobody has all the resources they need to do everything they need to do all the time," Throneberry said.
The official rollout of the Lyndon department started a couple weeks ago with the name change on many of the police vehicles.