Small Town, Big Attention

ALTO — Fourteen days after the Alto City Council sent its police force on a six-month furlough in June, the Wall Street Journal got wind of the story and ran an article entitled “The Day the Law Left Town.” The next day, Forbes and the Business Insider caught onto the story. By July 7, Alto had attracted the attention of the CBS News Morning Show. A cursory Google search of “Alto Texas police” yields ten of eleven first-page results about the potential for increased crime rates in Alto since the council furloughed the police force. The national coverage of the issue has left some Alto citizens perplexed and some outraged.

The Corner Market convenient store, robbed at gunpoint July 19, was one of the latest locations hit in Alto. Minister Frederick Shaw said he thinks coverage doesn’t help the crime situation. According to Sheriff Campbell, several towns in East Texas have disbanded their police forces before. “Several times before New Summerfield, Wells and Cuney have furloughed their police forces. Though this is the largest town to do away with their police department that I can remember.”

The Cherokee County sheriff’s department tries to keep a patrol car in the area at all times, yet some citizens are concerned the national coverage will cause an influx of crime from out-of-town offenders. Sheriff Campbell said national coverage has not yet greatly increased the number of crimes committed by outsiders. He said most of the crimes committed in Alto are done by locals.