Hanceville residents say they are not shocked by police department indictments

Hanceville residents are reeling after five members of the police department were arrested, and the future of the entire department is up in the air. As of Thursday at 5 p.m., the Cullman County Sheriff’s Department is taking over law enforcement duties in Hanceville, at least for now. A council meeting is set for next week to discuss what happens next.Hanceville is a small town of just over three thousand residents. After the announcement that almost the entire police force had been arrested, they're feeling a range of emotions. But apparently, shock isn't one of them. Reagan Martin said, “I wasn't really surprised. This was pretty expected for the Hanceville police department. Here's just a lot of over-policing that goes on in this area and a lot of dishonesty.”Greg Young said, “Well, I wasn't shocked. There's been some stuff going on here for a while. We lost our mayor last year. We had a dispatcher that had, like, five different drugs in him that died on the job. It doesn't shock me. It shocked me that we're trusting people with our lives that shouldn't do that.”The grand jury recommended abolishing the entire Hanceville police department. If that happens, the Cullman County Sheriff's Department could take over law enforcement duties in this area. That's what many residents think should happen. Young added, “If they stop the Hanceville police department, put the county in, okay. Yeah, we need a police force. We can't walk straight without police. You know, we must have police on the street.”Some residents say they're disgusted and worry about how these allegations will affect every part of their small community. Martin added, “I feel like this area doesn't have a great reputation to begin with, and that just kind of piles on to the bad reputation.”But in these difficult times, residents are pulling together to support each other. Robbie Elliott said, “Hanceville, we love you. We'll take care of you. We got your back.”We're learning more about the charges that those indicted are facing. According to court documents, several of the suspects are accused of removing and, or mishandling evidence. Other charges focus on using a police cell phone to try to get controlled substances from some of the others involved and traveling to get an illegally distributed steroid shot. A couple of other charges relate to accessing private records, one about a murder investigation. The indictments accuse them of doing these things last year.