By FRED SWIFT
The County Line
Indianapolis and Marion County are gradually consolidating all their fire and police departments to presumably reduce costs and improve effectiveness. Beech Grove is the latest to propose a move. Other populous areas in the country are also moving in that direction.
Is there any possibility or advantage for Hamilton County to do the same thing?
Hamilton County does now have a single emergency 911 communication center. But, that is as far as consolidation has gone. That process became controversial, but mostly over dividing costs.
Public officials say actual joining of departments to create a single fire and single police department is something that has not gotten consideration.
Tens of millions of dollars are spent each year to maintain nine police departments, including the Sheriff’s Department. Maintaining another nine fire departments costs many millions more.
But, opposition to any major consolidation is likely from fire and police officials. And, political opposition from the various communities is also likely as such a move would likely be seen as taking away community independence.
The county is geographically about the same size as Marion County. The population of Hamilton County now exceeds a third of a million and growing fast, while Marion County has about one million.
From an economic point of view, one must ask if all the growing expense of equipment, vehicles, salaries and buildings provide any better protection for citizens than combined departments would provide.
There have been no studies on the subject and no plans for any. Common sense would indicate that some consolidation would save money. But, that is not the question when it comes to actually considering joining the forces.
Public opinion – in other words, politics – would govern the outcome. At the present time such a thing would be out of the question. There are few if any elected officials who would advocate for a single countywide police or fire agency. It might be akin to political suicide.
But, for now, it may be interesting to watch our neighbors to the south and see how their situation progresses.
It really doesn’t matter how much it saves the taxpayers or betters public safety. The police and fire unions will fight tooth and nail against any attempt at consolidation, and politicians serve those unions. Even the all powerful teachers union will fight that also lest they suffer the same fate.
Resectfully, I would disagree with Mr. Saberson’s perspective. In fact, the firefighters union (4416) has considered this, and has developed some perspectives, and questions, through visits and practical experience with agencies around them. The biggest issues as I see it are, does it make financial sense under current Indiana tax law, the disparate service delivery models, and the will of elected officals. The question many elected officials do not know the answer to is, how much duplication are taxpayers supporting and how much could be eliminated? The second part of that question is can those savings be directed towards better and more effcient service delivery? The answer is yes. Regionalization makes sense fiscally and service wise however, most elected officials are not informed, or curious enough to support
such a venture. Such an undertaking, for many reasons, not the least of which is control, is an obstacle that is too much for many elected officals to overcome. It’s complex issue, and takes courage, but many communities across the county have embraced this concept with success.