How 3 Kane Co. villages would benefit from shared police force

Elected officials in East Dundee, West Dundee and Sleepy Hollow got a lot of information Thursday night. Now they have to figure out its value for their respective communities.

William Balling, a consultant with WRB LLC, presented results of a study of the feasibility of consolidating those villages' three police forces into one. Upon initial inspection, he said the idea seems possible — it is just a question of whether the three villages want to do it.

A consolidation would mean West Dundee takes the role of contract services provider because its services are most advanced and its infrastructure is tied to the strongest tax base. In the beginning, officers from East Dundee and Sleepy Hollow would be retained, but report to a chief based in West Dundee. Then as those officers retire or leave, they would be replaced by West Dundee. Balling said this is preferable to an outside provider like QuadCom because each village can benefit from the flexibility and control of contract negotiations.

Trustees immediately called out the pros and cons to their villages. In Sleepy Hollow, Scott Finney thought the relative benefit to his town was not worth the work of consolidation. Sleepy Hollow doesn't have a cost problem when it comes to policing, he reminded his colleagues.

“It's less than a dime a day per person, is our net benefit,” Finney said. “It's an awful long way to go for just a dime.”

Balling projected an annual budget reduction from $5.9 million to $5.2 million, but East Dundee would see a majority of the savings. Sleepy Hollow would save the least.

A consolidation would also mean a reduction in total staffing — only one chief would be necessary, for starters. There would also be fewer officers. The main goal would be to reduce redundancies and maintain or improve the coverage levels in each village.

Balling said this is something neighboring municipalities are trying throughout the state. Some are also working through the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, which partially funded the present study.

“While you're taking a very bold step, you're not alone in the process,” Balling said.

The respective boards plan to discuss the results of the study over the next 30 to 45 days and reconvene to plan their next steps. The individual board meetings will be where trustees seek public input.

“I think it's a good first step,” said Stephen Pickett, village president of Sleepy Hollow. “We've got the info, now we've got to do our own homework.”

Balling said if all three villages agreed to move forward by the spring, they could begin an implementation phase in 2012. Within a decade, then, residents could see a fully centralized police force, new badges and all.