Two truths drive the current discussion about law enforcement under a proposed Evansville-Vanderburgh County government: One, merging city and county police makes absolute sense on paper. But two, in reality, an overall consolidation plan has no chance of passage if it includes the combined police department.
That's why we welcome the news that the City Council and the County Commissioners are leaning toward amending the original proposal to keep separate law enforcement agencies under a consolidated government.
That's not because we believe separate departments would be most desirable; we don't. Clearly, one police department seems the most logical, efficient approach. But if consolidation has no chance of passage with a single department, then set that issue aside and deal with it later, after voters have decided whether they want to merge city and county governments.
A majority on the citizens reorganization committee that drafted the city-county consolidation plan favored placing the two departments under the elected county sheriff.
It seemed ill-advised at the time given the opposition — especially from city police officers — but after months of work and facing a legal deadline, the reorganization group forwarded its proposal with its law enforcement plan intact to the two elected government boards early this year.
However, the council and commissioners have the power to approve, reject or amend the plan. At a meeting Thursday, several City Council members said their constituents oppose the police merger, with one describing it as a potential "killer" of consolidation. Our thought precisely.
Indeed, for consolidation to appear on a referendum in 2012, the council and commissioners must approve identical proposals. It now appears likely that unified plan would include separate police and sheriff's departments.
As we said, later, after a successful referendum, the community could take up the law enforcement question. In fact, Sheriff Eric Williams and Police Chief Brad Hill have suggested that future steps for deciding the police issue be written into the plan now before the council and commissioners.
To that, Courier & Press staff writer Richard Gootee reported that officials discussed establishing a 10-year wait before again taking up the unified police question. That would prevent local government taking up the question every time there is a change of administration.
Even Williams, a proponent of possible merger and the man who would head law enforcement under the reorganization committee plan, said there isn't much support now for a single police department.
One person who disagreed on a delay is Rebecca Kasha, chair of the original reorganization committee, who said she does not believe postponing the police question would make it any easier. She said not taking it up now would constitute a failure to "grab the bull by the horns."
Perhaps so, but trying now to deal with police issues pretty much guarantees that the bull would trample the entire consolidation plan.