Saturday, March 20, 1999
Merger worries Boone Co. police
Judge-executive says no study yet
BY KRISTINA GOETZ
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BURLINGTON — Some Boone County police officers have voiced concern about the possible merger of their de partment with the county sheriff's department.
“While both agencies are vigilant in the criminal justice system, both have different missions and goals,” Lt. Jack Banks of the police department said in a statement.
Although official talks are not yet under way, Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore said the county may study ways to eliminate duplication of services, but that most likely would not take place for at least six months.
“They keep referring to the study that's being done, but one is not being done,” he said. “We haven't even decided on the process.”
Both departments have law enforcement responsibilities from traffic to murder investigations. The sheriff's department, led by an elected sheriff, also is responsible for tax collection and vehicle inspections. The police department is overseen by the county fiscal court.
Mr. Moore said he recognizes the problems that the county may face if it decides to merge the two law enforcement agencies. For example, classification and rank are different in each department. Others concerns are residency requirements, amount of training and compensation packages.
But the major concern is that the sheriff is an elected position.
“With a merged office, how do you balance that?” Mr. Moore said. “When we look at this, we would have to make sure people were not hired on party registration.
“I'm not saying that there is any problem in the sheriff's department now, but 10 years from now you don't know who the sheriff will be.
“All of these things will be taken into consideration when the time comes.”
Boone County Sheriff Mike Helmig said politics should not be an issue because his department uses a merit board for promotions just as the police department does.
“I think there's a lot of worries there that are unfounded,” he said. “There is protection from the politics.”
However, Mr. Moore said merging the departments is only one possibility. The county may decide to keep the departments separate and just eliminate duplicated positions.
Either way, he said, he does not anticipate lost jobs.
“I don't see anyone losing their job as far as officers on the street,” he said. “Those people are going to be needed no matter what uniform they wear to keep Boone County safe.”
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