Wiggy's combox is shut down, so here's a response.
I had a conversation today with a well-connected individual who related to me that many municipal police and fire departments were on a path toward absorption by other, larger departments.
In the case of law enforcement, small villages, townships--and even cities--are ceding LEO duties to County Sheriffs. The fire/rescue departments are on a similar path, but "county fire chiefs" do not exist (yet)--so instead, they are forming regional departments.
The North Shore fire department is one example, but look to the Oconomowoc/Lake Country Fire/Rescue brouhaha and you see another merger which WILL take place.
In Waukesha County, the Sheriff patrols Sussex and Pewaukee.
The City of Milwaukee may be an exception. Wauwatosa may be another. But in 20 years, don't expect to find an Elm Grove PD, nor a Town of Brookfield PD; and perhaps even the City of Brookfield will use the Sheriff instead.
Just sayin'...
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4 comments:
Yup. This model has worked well in many other larger metro areas for years; decades, even. Mutual assistance pacts will give way to outright mergers. Same-same for many county/city bureaucracies which are duplicated. Seems the only way to go.
(Oh, and for the troll, I had three extra-large very delicious jelly-filled donuts for breakfast.)
Another success story in the ongoing denigration/elimination of muni gummint workers. Falling crime rates are proof we don't need these overpaid emergency waifs.
Well, the only reason to have a 'county police department' was that the county commissioners prefer to deal with a hireling than an independently-elected officer. That's understandable, from their limited perspective, but it's also a luxury good.
Taxpayers sometimes pay for luxury goods, when things are flush. That's not so true anymore.
Keep up the good work, Tim. The sooner you die of a coronary, the better.
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