Disagreements among the leadership of Cave City government might lead to the city losing two-thirds of its police force by the end of March.

Four of the department's six officers are either looking for other jobs or considering leaving, according to police Chief Billy Minton.

Recent decisions to remove take-home vehicles and cellular phones from officers have made Cave City a less attractive place for officers to work, Minton said.

Public allegations recently have been made that officers were using the cell phones to pick up women while on duty and to call 900 numbers. The officers' cars were also alleged to have been used to go to liquor stores and grocery stores, which is not an allowed use of the vehicles, he said.

Minton said there has been no evidence presented about the allegations officers picked up women while on duty or used the phones to call 900 numbers.

“I tried to dial a 900 number to see if it would even dial and I couldn't get out,” he said. “Our phones don't allow us to call 900 numbers.”

Councilman Todd Esters, however, sais it was never alleged that the officers had called 900 or 800 numbers, but that they had called a Louisville dating service.

The officers know why their cell phones were taken away, he said.

“I have met with officers privately at their request and we have discussed the issue,” Esters said.

The issue with phones now is that Minton and police department Capt. Danny Coomer have not complied with the order to turn in their phones, Esters said.

“We have a plan but we can't do it until all the phones have been turned in,” he said. “We're not going to pay for two services; that's not good business.”

The council members have discussed getting two cell phones with unlimited minutes that would be for use solely for officers on duty, Esters said.

Minton, responding to accusations that his officers had taken service vehicles to locations they were not allowed, said the department's equipment store in Bowling Green is located right by a liquor store. In addition, officers' vehicles were at Greenwood Mall last year for homeland security training that occurred at the facility.

“I do have two officers who live on the other side of Glasgow and they have stopped at Wal-Mart with their cruisers to pick up a few groceries,” he said.

These shortsighted decisions that were made because of rumors and to save money will hurt the police department and the city in the long run, Minton said. Take-home cars and cell phones were given to the officers as a perk to keep them longer and have been effective, Minton said.

Cave City is one of few departments in this region to not offer hazardous duty retirement, he said.

The city will spend more because of the council decisions because they'll have to keep replacing officers, Minton said.

“Cave City has always been a training ground for other departments who paid more,” he said.

Cave City will also become less safe because there will be fewer officers to patrol, Minton said. It takes nearly a year for an officer to be hired and trained.

The cars were taken away because the city's insurance does not allow for family members of officers to be in the vehicles and not because of where they were parked, Esters said. When that occurs, it's a liability for the city.

Minton previously resigned from his position initially providing a date of May 1, but he has applied for another position and could be leaving as early as the end of March.

“One of the first things I did when I got to this department was get accreditation,” Minton said. “I pretty much helped build it from the ground up.”

Minton said he isn't going to stay and watch the department go back down to where it was before.

The department should be continuing to focus on trying to get grants to continue to improve equipment but this fighting by the council members has taken the focus away from that, Minton said.

Esters disagreed the council actions will cost them officers, but there is a backup plan in case some do leave, he said. Kentucky State Police and the Barren County Sheriff's Department have been contacted about the situation.

Mayor Bob Hunt and Minton did not know of any backup plan if officers were to leave.

“People have been quick to judge but no one knows our plan. We've never been able to move forward and go to step two of our plan,” Esters said. “You can't go to step two until step one is completed.”

The first step is getting all city employees to comply with rules and regulations, he said.

The council is making decisions that will hurt the city to further their own agenda, Minton said.

“This is a personal vendetta against the mayor and these council members are willing to take down anything they can to make him look bad,” Minton said. “It's pretty obvious that at some of the meetings they've discussed the issues before they get there and already know what they're going to do.”

Hunt agreed several council members have a personal grudge against him and the police and fire chiefs are becoming targets because they've been lumped together with him.

“When we got the cell phones I told them to call whoever they wanted as long as they didn't go over the minutes,” Hunt said. “But I told them if they go over the minutes, I've got a problem.”

Hunt said the officers did not go over their minutes.

These issues are not a vendetta, Esters said. They're simply a business and moral decision.

“None of the officers live in Cave City,” he said. “They're willing to cash our checks but not follow our rules and that leaves a real bad taste in my mouth.”

Cave City does not have a policy requiring officers or city employees to live in the city.

Hunt said the city has never had a bill that wasn't for the proper amount except in one instance when new phones were purchased and a billing mistake was made. The mistake was clarified and the city received a credit for the incorrect amount charged.

But Esters said there have been numerous phone bills over the normal amount. A typical bill is less than $700 but there were at least 15 bills over $700, he said.

Some overages have been for new equipment others have been because the bills have been paid late, he said.

Hunt accused Esters of cursing at City Clerk Pam Hunt when she had called Esters to discuss the billing issues.

But Esters denied cursing at the city clerk and said Pam Hunt has been verbally abusive since requests have been made to see the bills of the city. He is planning to take legal action against her.

“City employees have been able to work for years with no rules or oversight and treat the city as their own personal country club,” Esters said.

Now that there's a strong city council that is placing rules and regulations upon them, they're unhappy, he said.

Esters said these people are employees of the city and suspensions without pay are being considered for those being insubordinate; he did not specify of whom he was speaking.