A small town in Virginia nearly erased its police department—until its citizens rose up and stopped it.

On Tuesday night, Purcellville’s town council voted to reverse course and keep its local police force, just one week after the same body had voted to disband it in a late-night move that blindsided residents. The initial decision came as part of a plan to cut $3.2 million from the budget by outsourcing police services to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. The motivation? To lower skyrocketing water bills.

But citizens weren’t buying it.

Purcellville, home to just over 9,000 people, was already dealing with financial strain after sinking the town deep into debt—roughly $50 million—by constructing a wastewater treatment facility. That pressure drove the council’s original push to eliminate the department. But it was how they did it that sparked a firestorm.

Outraged residents accused the council of sneaking the police vote through without public comment, and efforts to launch recall petitions against multiple members, including Vice Mayor Ben Nett, got underway almost immediately.

“The four of you snuck agenda items in at the end of the meeting and took away my lawful right to comment on them,” one resident told the council, according to ABC7.

When the council reconvened on Tuesday for a packed meeting, emotions ran high. Residents filled the chamber and made their voices heard. In the end, the council reversed its earlier decision and agreed to fund the police department through 2026—prompting loud cheers from the crowd.

But the controversy isn’t over. Vice Mayor Nett, a key figure in the disbanding vote, is now the subject of a criminal investigation for potential conflict of interest violations. He had been fired from the Purcellville Police Department on April 8—just days before voting to eliminate the force entirely, without recusing himself.

Nett was notably absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

Adding to the turmoil, Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said his office had not even been consulted before the vote to eliminate the town’s force, noting that such a handoff would require far more time and planning than the two-month window the council had proposed.

Meanwhile, the council is facing heat for appointing former mayor Kwasi Fraser as the new town manager without interviewing any of the 82 other applicants for the role.

Councilmember Erin Rayner called the recent behavior of the new council “questionable,” and said she was relieved the public was finally paying attention.

“I am happy that it’s not just me and my fellow colleagues that are seeing this behavior and are seeing what’s going on and looking into it,” she said.

The attempted elimination of the department struck a nerve nationwide as communities continue to grapple with the fallout from anti-police sentiment and defunding efforts in recent years. In contrast, the Trump administration has moved swiftly to lift restrictions on law enforcement, restore funding, and back officers with executive orders aimed at ending what many have described as a “war on cops.”

The situation in Purcellville serves as a reminder: voters may not always speak up until their safety is on the line—but when they do, they can still turn the tide.