Several municipalities are considering a request from Carbon County District Attorney Michael Greek to do a police regionalization study.

Greek sent a letter to municipalities, saying, “The current political and economic climate has made it even more difficult to hire and retain law enforcement officers or provide for adequate facilities, equipment and training. This obviously has a direct effect on the safety and security of our communities.”

He encouraged boroughs to “reach out to your neighboring municipal leaders to consider regionalization of police forces.”

The benefits of regionalization include improvement in uniformity and consistency of enforcement; coordination of law enforcement services; recruitment; distribution and deployment of police personnel; training and personnel efficiency; management and supervision; improved specialization of services; greater accessibility to grants and reduction in overall costs, Greek said.

“As the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of Carbon County, I cannot stress how critical the need for regionalization is at the present time. Many of our local departments lack sufficient personnel to even consider shifts let alone the ability to properly investigate reported incidents.”

Lehighton Councilman Ryan Saunders said Monday he thinks it’s a good idea for the borough to at least look into the idea.

However, Councilman Donnie Rehrig said it has to be proven to him that it would work before he would agree to it.

Borough police Chief Brian Biechy, who is set to retire effective Aug. 10, said that while he wasn’t 100% sure he’d be in favor, it’s something worth looking into.

Rehrig said “The ultimate goal is to make sure our town is protected like it is now.”

Saunders said because the study isn’t going to cost the borough any money, he would like to hear more about it.

The consensus was that council would be willing to participate in the study.

Next step

“The first step is getting towns to participate, be willing to at least take part in a survey to determine the cost that would be involved,” Greek said Tuesday. “Kind of like a feasibility study.”

He said there is grant money available to do that through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and noted that the state Department of Community and Economic Development also provides funding for regionalization studies.

“It’s important that they want to look at it,” he said. “Right now, there’s a decrease in the number of police officers across the country.”

That’s why “there’s a need to look at a larger regional body of police officers that can cover a geographic area,” Greek said.

“The more municipalities that you get in, the more costs are shared across the board,” he said. “You’re going to see a better trained force, more specialized force, dedicated detectives.”

Greek has seen “an increase in crime in our entire county, in both the quantity and nature in crime.

“We have higher numbers, and it’s not what it used to be. Now, you’re seeing a lot more sex cases, a lot more cyber crime, an increase in quantity, as well as an increase in the nature of the crimes.”

Greek said he’s willing to meet with any of the municipal leaders.

An idea revisited

Combining police services has been a topic of discussion throughout municipalities over the years.

There was preliminary discussion in 2016 about Franklin and Mahoning townships contracting with Lehighton Borough for police services.

And boroughs in the Panther Valley have been exploring whether working together can help overcome a shortage of police officers.

In October, Lansford Borough Council held a public safety committee with Summit Hill Council members and the police chiefs from each borough.

At that time, they discussed how the shortage of officers has affected their ability to respond to incidents out of town.

Back in July of 1999, Lehighton Borough Council tabled action to participate in a state-funded study of a proposed regional police department.