QUINCY - Quincy councilmembers argued against allowing police officers to live more than 20 minutes away from the city.

Police Chief Richard Ackerman made the proposal to change the requirement during a recent city council meeting, stating if the city wants a stable police force, it should change the policy. The city presently requires all police officers to live within 20 minutes of the city.

"The freedom to live where one chooses is very personal and varies by individual needs and desires," Ackerman wrote. "Quincy should not be in the business of dictating where an employee and his (or) her family resides. Loyalty and dedication to a community and it's police department cannot and should not be forced upon an employee."

The chief couldn't find any places in Washington requiring officers to live within 20 minutes of the city, he stated. Many departments nationwide with residency requirements have ended them.

"The 20-minute response time has not been a factor in any situation since I was appointed as chief of police," Ackerman stated. "In addition, I have asked many tenured department members about the 20-minute response time and how it has been helpful in any emergency in recent memory. No one could provide a specific incident where the residency requirement was even needed."

The requirement hampers the department's ability to recruit officers, he stated. If the council removed the policy, it would buy an "investment in the quality of your police department and service to the community far into the future."

"I've never seen a problem yet with having people available with any emergency," Ackerman told the council. "The biggest event I had in my experience here was the homicide (in September) ... and literally within 15, 20 minutes we had close to 35, 40 officers from all over the county there."

Councilmember Paul Worley pointed out when he worked in wastewater, they had a 20-minute response time requirement because if a pipe broke it needed to be fixed quickly.

"There is a reason for that 20-minute response time," he said. "You're saying that somebody in a shoot out, needing help, doesn't need that. That makes no sense to me."

Ackerman said a shooting could occur, but Washington State Patrol and other local agencies are available to help.

Councilmember Jose Saldana disagreed with Ackerman's assessment of the requirement, saying if people want to leave they will leave.

"Quincy has always been a stepping stone for police officers," Saldana said. "Some of them go to the county. Some of them go somewhere else."

The councilmember questioned who would be responsible if an officer driving quickly from Ephrata or Moses Lake got into a collision.

"I think in this case, our duty as a councilman and the mayor, is to the citizens of Quincy," he said. "Are those citizens going to be safer by having those officers living in other cities?"

Saldana said the officers can't always count on the state patrol and the sheriff's office for help because they might be busy.

Other cities don't have the same issues Quincy does, he said. Officers working in other cities tend to live near those cities because more services are available.

"(With) Moses Lake, Ephrata is no more than 20 minutes (away.) Soap Lake is about the same," he said.

Capt. Gene Fretheim repeated Ackerman's earlier point, saying the last two times an emergency call happened they had about 20 officers within five minutes.

"When you put out some kind of a help call, you're going to get bodies in this county because we network," he said.

Mayor Jim Hemberry suggested bringing the issue back during the council retreat in April.