In the old days (and on television shows like Dukes of Hazard), miscreants and persecuted hot-rodding good ol' boys alike could escape the clutches of the law by crossing the county line.
The doctrine of "hot pursuit" arose to erase artificial boundaries when it comes to chasing real bad guys. But those artificial boundaries still crop up when it comes to the administrative side of law enforcement.
Lines may separate communities on a map, but how many criminals bother to read a map before committing crimes? Yet policing policies and coverage levels can vary greatly depending on what side of the street someone is standing.
Unlike most other states, which have built-in regional police forces in sheriff departments, Pennsylvania relies on a hodgepodge of local departments and its thinly stretched state police for law enforcement.
Such an arrangement does not make for efficient police protection. Departments must each provide patrols when times are slow, yet may be understaffed in a pinch.
Communities are beginning to realize the benefits of pooling police resources.
Some of that realization is based upon increased costs. Police cost money. Their health care plans cost money. Their cars cost money. The gas in those cars costs an ever-increasing amount of money.
While money alone is not a good enough reason to justify merging police departments, it is a good enough reason to start looking at the process.
Lewisburg and New Berlin boroughs and Kelly and East Buffalo townships are formally looking at a joint police force.
It may take some time to turn the "looking" into "doing," but the first step is important. It also is important to involve the public in the decision-making process, as the Lewisburg-area communities are doing.
As population in the Central Susquehanna Valley increases, and the costs of keeping all those people safe skyrocket, other community neighbors will want to take a few first steps of their own.
Opinion
Sharing resources would help police meet challenges
- Opinion
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Good-paying jobs
I am writing in response to comments made by several lawmakers and certain media regarding people receiving unemployment compensation not searching for employment but only wanting extensions.
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Economy is tough but still pay rises
It was my first time attending a Lewisburg School Board meeting last night. I went to hear public comment on the Boards recent decision to extend the Superintendents contract, which included a 20-plus percent pay raise.
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Sunbury has a lot to offer
I would like to respond to the letter writer that inferred that Sunbury was a pretty package with nothing inside.
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Mutual aid is necessary
Mutual aid agreements in local law enforcement strike at the heart of basic small-town decency. When a neighbor is in need, those equipped to help ought to drop everything and spring to aid.
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Lifting me higher
I am not a winner of a Pulitzer Prize, nor am I an author of best selling novels, I'm just a human being attempting to live life here on earth with purpose and I can find no greater way to do that than through my faith and my belief in God.
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Understaffing
I read with interest your article regarding police mutual aid in Northumberland County.
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Carney, Marino ought to get focused on issues
U.S. Rep. Chris Carney and Tom Marino ought to focus on the issues in the upcoming campaign for Congress.
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Blatantly unfair
The Pennsylvania Republican Party is supporting an effort to strike third-party candidates from the general election ballot in November.
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Fiscal responsibility
This editorial letter is only the second such letter I have been moved to pen in my lifetime.
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Schools need a little help from home
Milton High School failed to meet its adequate yearly progress under Pennsylvania's version of the federal No Child Left Behind because one student did not show up for the standardized test.
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Good-paying jobs
