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The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a full section piece on merging the 48 separate police departments of Hamilton County into a single police departments. This has been done in cities such as Louisville and Indianapolis. The Enquirer article at first makes it seem merging doesn't save any money. In the short-term, this is probably correct. There are going to be a short-term increase in the purchase of new equipment or updating existing equipment and facilities. These costs could be offset though as redundant, senior positions are eliminated. There is no easy, painless fix for the budget crisis. Cincinnati is looking at $51 million deficit for next year and this may increase. Merging public safety agencies - fire, police, EMS - may be the only way to continue to maintain the safety and well being of the community in the face of decreasing budgets. Old politics and civic pride may have to yield to the fiscal realities of today. If the merger is planned out objectively, there is the potential of increasing response times to 911 calls.
1 comment:
I moved out of the city (albeit still in the county) to avoid substandard city services, and to put it quite bluntly: the merge will never happen. People like me in Anderson simply refuse to subsidise the boondoggle that is Cincinnati.
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