Where’s a cop when you need one?

Lately, it’s become a valid question.

Just look around.

In Lehighton, officials are hoping to bolster a shrinking constabulary while officials in several other local communities are doing the same. Lansford is looking to fill open positions and police overtime has come into question in Palmerton.

The competition for qualified, willing individuals to protect and serve is heating up all over the region, the state and the nation.

The shortage of available law enforcement candidates isn’t something new, for myriad reasons.

Since the days of the George Floyd incident in Minnesota, where officers were charged in connection with his death, attitudes about policing have changed dramatically. Based on occurrences such as that one, officers have often resigned or retired rather than deal with the stresses and dangers of their job.

Many potential officers don’t want to be under the microscope of public scrutiny, and just plain don’t want to make it a career.

Add to that the effects of the pandemic, which changed life as we once knew it dramatically. During its height — and in the years since — recruitment and training suffered, making the pool of potential officers smaller.

And, of course, there’s the financial considerations. The men and women who choose to wear the badge seek the best deals they can get when it comes to salary and benefits. After all, they’re putting themselves in harm’s way to keep their communities a safe place.

Lately, local governments have been struggling to meet their hiring needs.

The few recruits available are seeking better, higher paying jobs available only in larger communities.

Locals try to compete, raising salaries a few dollars per hour and hoping to fill positions — some of which have been vacant for an extended period.

A reluctance to raise taxes in a tightening economy often handcuffs smaller boroughs and townships competing for those candidates. Some locations are already taxed to their limits.

Working conditions come into play, too. Local departments often deal with criminals in outdated, cramped quarters that can compromise their safety.

But there may be an alternative that comes in the form of an often ignored concept.

Simply put, it’s regionalization, and it’s not a new idea.

Across Pennsylvania, at least 38 regional departments exist, mostly in rural communities in the middle and western parts of the state.

Closer to home, regional departments exist in the Wyoming Valley, Pocono Mountain and the Stroudsburg area.

They arose out of necessity. Smaller municipalities faced the same things local departments are dealing with and combined to provide constituents coverage.

For years, regionalization has been suggested as a solution to Carbon County’s policing issues.

Studies have been proposed, sometimes initiated and then just allowed to fade away.

District Attorney Michael Greek, the county’s top law enforcement official, is a proponent of municipalities joining forces.

Just for the sake of discussion, let’s consider putting Lansford, Nesquehoning and Summit Hill into a regional force. They have separate stations, separate operating costs, Civil Service commissions and salary structures.

The communities already share a school system.

The three police departments already work together, responding to assist at incidents in the neighboring jurisdictions. They share a labor union with separate, negotiated contracts.

Figures listed on the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development website show the departments with 17 full-time and nine part-time officers. That’s nearly 25% of the existing full-time police positions in the county and 30% of the part-time spots to cover just under a total of 35 square miles inside the combined municipal boundaries.

Combining and standardizing those positions and reducing a municipality’s costs could offer residents benefits above current levels.

Any savings realized could be put toward hiring more officers, thus increasing coverage and easing the burden of already strapped individual departments.

In addition, a single department could improve chances for grants to upgrade equipment and facilities as well as to add more personnel.

The possibilities are endless.

Given the current situation, especially with a shallow hiring pool and the limited tax bases of local governments, a regional police department makes sense.

And it’s certainly worth further investigation.

ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnonline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years’ experience in community journalism.