Alabama Town Hits ‘Reset’ on Corrupt Police Department—But Maybe the Real Question Is, Why Bother Reinstalling It?

Written by: Sam Orlando

HANCEVILLE, ALABAMA — After a grand jury discovered that the Hanceville Police Department had turned its evidence room into what appears to be a suggestion box, city officials decided it was time for a fresh start. The fix? Shut it all down. Every last badge.

The City Council this week voted to suspend the department entirely and rebuild it from scratch, following indictments of the police chief and four officers accused of mishandling—or straight-up disappearing—evidence. A grand jury described a “rampant culture of corruption,” which seems like a polite way of saying “this is a dumpster fire with a siren.”

For now, the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office is handling law enforcement duties. And so far, no one seems to be panicking.

Which raises the obvious question: does this town even need its own police department?

Hanceville is home to roughly 3,500 people. That’s smaller than the student body of a mid-size high school. If the Sheriff’s Office can cover the town without evidence vanishing into thin air or chiefs getting indicted, maybe it's time to make the temporary arrangement permanent—and save taxpayers the cost of building another local force that might need another reboot in a few years.

City officials say they’re determined to rebuild “public trust.” But trust isn't software—you can’t just reinstall it after a corrupt download. If the entire department had to be scrapped because it couldn’t follow the law, it’s fair to ask whether starting over means repeating the same cycle or finally learning from it.

As of now, Hanceville is without a police force—and, according to the Sheriff’s Office, not without protection. Maybe that's the best the town has felt in a while.