KULPMONT -- A community in Northumberland County is without its police force, all because of what appears to be an issue with insurance.
Two police cruisers sit outside the Kulpmont Police Department, unused, for now. Borough officials in Kulpmont took the police department out of service due to an issue with insurance.
Officials would not elaborate since it is a personnel issue, but temporarily suspended the police force Wednesday at its council meeting. Some people in Kulpmont said it's not a big deal.
"I've called on the weekends, and no one's on duty, and you have to call state police. It's not really that much of a difference," Machelle Drumheller said.
"I don't see them that much. I see them sometimes pulling people over or driving around the alleys at night once in a while," said Teresa Engelbrecht.
Kulpmont will not be without police protection. Borough officials said while the department is temporarily out of service, state police will patrol the area. That has some people concerned because the nearest barracks is about 15 miles away.
"If you call them and there's an emergency, how long is it going to take for them to get here," asked Brian Deitz.
"That's shocking because with today's going-ons with everybody you don't know. It's not really safe. By time the state police come it may be too late, so it's a good thing I have a dog," said Engelbrecht.
Officials in Kulpmont said they are working to have the matter resolved as quickly as possible. They would not give any sort of timetable as to when the police department will be back in service.