The idea that criminals are more brazen due to Sheriff contracts is silly and stupid.

When the economy goes bad, crime goes up and vice versa. I used to work in Detroit in teh 1990′s when unemployment was way down and crime was minimal.

Of course, if you are in the law enforcement industry you see crime every day, so you have no perspective.

I have been in the law enforcement field for 14 years now and I have never been more concerned with some of the behavior I have witnessed, than within the last year or so. It is of great concern in my opinion. And unfortunately I cannot rack my brain at this hour to offer opinions. But I would imagine that as an observant community member my statements are not far off. I think most people can tell that something is amiss.

Reminds me of a quote from No Country For Old Men…
“It’s the tide. The dismal tide. It is not the one thing.”
Seems appropriate doesn’t it?

Again, this was one example. And it wasn’t just a police consolidation. It was an entire government consolidation.

That being said… why would twice the population make a difference? If anything, that would show that it would be fine for something half the size.

The bigger issue… why do you need two large departments splitting resources and creating bottlenecks? Crime doesn’t have the imaginary lines of jurisdiction that police agencies use. A criminal doesn’t care if they cross over into Ypsi over Ann Arbor… however the Ann Arbor Police dept will.

One larger department, where the top official is an elected position, just makes sense. Many high level jobs can be phased out… you won’t need a chief of police in Ann Arbor for example.

2. I think a comparison with an entity that isn’t twice the population of Washtenaw County would be more appropriate to answer the question.

Many have gone that way. In Florida, Jacksonville and Nassau County consolidated all services, including law enforcement. Some smaller cities chose to remain independent, but the county and main city became one. They renamed the sheriff’s office the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and kept the Sheriff an elected position. Many other examples exist of just police/fire consolidation.

I think you are correct. We have a stange and costly system of overlapping services that cost a lot. As far as I can tell the only real rationale for having multiple systems is political control.

You could use the same rationale for planning and zoning functions. The fact that every rural township has a seperate planning and zoning function is insane and costly.