Bunker Hill, Indiana, has fewer than 900 residents, boasts one of the state’s oldest operating drag strips, and is the hometown of radio and TV talk show host Tavis Smiley.

But at the moment, it doesn’t have a police force.

The town marshal and four reserve deputies turned in their badges this week in a show of protest against officials in the working-class community about 75 miles north of Indianapolis. Their resignation letter accused leaders of being engaged in “illegal, unethical, and immoral things.”

“This was our last effort to make a statement,” former Marshal Michael Thomison told NBC News on Thursday.