I was especially interested in the Indianapolis merger with Marion County Sheriff's Department, as this is considered the "poster child" of police mergers. The newly merged department became official January 2007.
Some random thoughts regarding the information I've been gathering. Some or all of these will be included in a report I'll be giving to the board tomorrow. A final copy will be posted on the Web site Thursday or Friday.
Fox Valley Metro—Kimberly and Little Chute villages each pay a percentage of all costs of the department based upon a formula weighted by populations and equalized valuations of each community.
Mergers in Indy and Louisville came about because of the city sprawl encompassed most of the county. The city and sheriff's department were overlapping services.
Brown County Sheriff's Department offers a contracting program to the villages of Howard and Allouez. This is similar to Outagamie County contracting out to Greenville and Buchanan. These municipalities opted to secure police services instead of starting their own police department for financial reasons.
There was a very clear process involved when the municipalities examined mergers or contractural agreements.
- Started out with a private feasibility study.
- Had a joint advisory board to review service options
- Had a clear vision and firm objectives in mind before the proposal went public.
- Had much public participation before adopting the merger.
- Had clear and equitable funding formulas covering members oblications
These facts are just the tip of the iceberg. More to follow in the report.
