PATTON - Area police departments face similar struggles: including rising costs, manpower and scheduling.

Now they may work together to try to solve them.

A workshop between borough officials and police representing Carrolltown, Hastings, Northern Cambria and Patton had those involved encouraged late last week. Their hope: to get enough support from their local councils to study the possibility of forming a round-the-clock regional force or, at the very least, find a way to strengthen cooperation among existing departments to improve the region's coverage.

"Nobody ever wants to use the 'R' word, but it's coming to a point I think we should look at [regionalization]," Patton Mayor Steve Bakajza said. "It's getting harder and harder for us to keep our independent departments going the way they are now."

Bakajza was joined by several Patton council members, Hastings Mayor Sam Grillo and officers from their departments as well as Carrolltown and Northern Cambria.

All were hopeful fellow local leaders will at least be up for exploring the idea.

"We all have the same issues," Grillo said afterward. "So it can't hurt to look at our options."

All four communities have varying levels of part-time departments that patrol streets throughout the week but leave gaps where state police handle calls.

For years, state police have been filling those gaps, handling calls at no cost.

But a state bill gaining steam in Harrisburg could force communities who rely on state police coverage to pay for the service.

"Would we end up being stuck with a bill for hours we'd need covered?" Bakajza said.

"On the flip side, if a neighboring township came to us to cover them [instead of paying state police], would we even be able to do it with our force?"

The bill proposed by state Rep. Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster, proposes charging state police-reliant municipalities $52 per person the first year, $104 per person in the second year and $156 per person afterward.

For municipalities with part-time forces, the bill proposes fees as high as $52 per resident annually to handle calls.

Few expect the bill will become law as proposed, but many at the meeting expect something similar will pass.

"Is something going to happen with that bill? Absolutely," Carrolltown Police Chief Dave Murphy, said, calling it "a long time coming."

He said the state is desperate for revenue to cover its law enforcement costs.

Local officials said talk started about having a police workshop months before the bill became news.

They invited neighboring townships, sending letters to Chest, East Carroll and Clearfield townships, but all of them declined.

"It's going to come to a point where we won't be able to bury our heads in the sand anymore," Patton Councilman Joe Noel said.

"Change is going to be forced on us, so why not be proactive."

State may do study

The next step is seeing if there's enough support to consider jointly seeking a Department of Community and Economic Development regional police study.

The state-funded study would look at how a regional force would operate, the costs involved and issues it would bring.

Local officials said similar studies were done more than a decade ago, but the results scared off many communities.

"The costs are the big thing," Grillo said. "Everyone wants to improve our communities - provide better services - but that is always the factor. The price has to be right."

Murphy believes it can be affordable.

"The state will come in, they'll do a study that will take six months and then the numbers they provide will be high, and it'll scare people," he said, quickly adding that he favors another study regardless.

"We've been through it before. We realize the numbers are inflated and that a regional force can be done more cost effectively."

The study would provide a solid blueprint, he added.

He and Northern Cambria Police Sgt. Jeff McEvoy, who have been involved in regional departments before, believe the time may be right to explore the matter again.

"It would be great for local police," said Patton Officer Travis Schilling, saying it would mean more cars on the streets, added resources and access as a region to funding that is unavailable otherwise.

He pointed to $1.3 million in state aid that one newly regionalized police department netted to build a central police station as an example.

Shared services eyed

Sgt. Missy Glavach, the officer in charge for Hastings Borough, added that individual department strengths - such as Carrolltown's K-9 unit and Patton's accident reconstruction expertise - could be pooled to help the entire region.

"Times have changed," Murphy said, adding there was a time the region's police chiefs would have staunchly fought such a plan in fear of losing power. "I don't think we'd see that now. Everyone here gets along. This may be an opportunity for a fresh start."

If not, local leaders hope further talks can spur better coverage throughout the region in other ways.

Bakajza said intermunicipal agreements could be strengthened to allow neighboring forces to assist each other better.

"Maybe we can work out scheduling so we can cover each other's calls, rather than have empty shifts [and rely on state police backup]," he added. "There's got to be ways we can improve on what we have."

Noel agreed.

"It's time to start looking at regional efforts," he said. "All of our little towns will die a slow death if we don't start looking at what's going on and start doing something about it."

Mirror Staff Writer David Hurst is at 946-7457.