Lancaster Police - Options Exist

[WNYRealist]

Why on earth is our town board looking to build out a new police building for millions of dollars? We need to stop this train and get some direction. Timing is everything. Why in a time of economic instability would we look to spend $8 million on something that we haven't explored completely?

If consolidation is what we REALLY want then we need to look at the larger picture. Why do we need our town police department? Many metropolitan areas across our nation use their sheriffs department. We can easily get police services at a MUCH lower cost to the Town. Scare tactics will certainly squash this idea. I challenge fellow residents to look at your tax bill and see what you are paying for police protection. You will see it is one of our largest expenditures; wouldn't it be nice not to have such a large tax burden? Does it really matter what name is on the police car? Maybe we should look at why Clarence, Elma, Grand Island, Alden and other growing suburbs do not have their own police force. Perhaps it is because they are smarter than us. Perhaps we could consider a hiring freeze and fill any vacancies with a supplement of sheriffs or troopers. Controversial? You bet!! Can it work? Yes. Are other towns in the area looking at it? YES!

Lancaster police have their own SWAT team which is completely unnecessary. It is a waste of money and a waste of resources. The larger departments like the sheriffs and Buffalo police have SWAT teams which I understand. Why can't the towns use them? They have the manpower and all of the equipment. SWAT is not a "rush in" type of job so the excuse of response time won't work in this case. How can we as a town support the expense of equipment, training, ect. for something we rarely (and I mean rarely use)? I can hear it now... "you never know" "what if" and all the other common excuses. SWAT is not something that needs a 2 minute response time. Call in the professionals. Stop wasting our money!

Our police expenditures are out of control! I used to live in Elma where we had Sheriffs; I always had good experiences with them. They can offer the same service at a fraction of the cost. The only difference is that the response time for low priority calls may increase, but who cares.

Imagine what our taxes would look like if we did not have the current police budget to support!! And if the Town felt it needed more coverage it could contract with the sheriffs and still pay pennies compared to what we are paying now. The problem is POLITICS and SCARE TACTICS. If it can work in other towns then it can surely work in Lancaster. But our leaders will instill fear that they response times will go crazy and services will be lost. Maybe an experimental solution would be have a hiring freeze and supplement the manpower with sheriffs or state troopers. Why not?

Lancaster CHOOSES to have its own police department, they are not required to. In the absence of a town police department the sheriff patrols the town by default. The Sheriff is charged with maintaining the peace in all municipalities, villages, and townships within his jurisdiction; this includes Lancaster (www.erie.gov/sheriff/about.asp). The population of Lancaster is different thn Elma where I come from but Elma continues to grow. What about towns like Clarence? They are very comparable to Lancaster. Why don't they have a police department? COST. Why bear the burden of a police department when you don't have to.

The bottom line is why pay for two police departments when one is there by default? It is much cheaper to spread the cost over an entire area than just in one town. Besides the sheriffs offer many more servicres than our police do. I know this because I came from a town that uses the sheriffs. Depew could very easily abolish its police force and the sheriff could assume protection. Perhaps this would make the Village of Depew much more viable and control its costs. Sheriffs don't patrol Lancaster because the town has its own force. But Lancaster COULD supplement with the sheriffs but I can imagine the fight that would cause. It’s ridiculous!!!

The sheriff assumes police protection for ANY municipality that does not have its own police force, villages included. If Depew abolishes its force the sheriff assumes the role because the sheriff is responsible for law enforcement of the county. The towns cannot simply absorb Depew police protection, as much as they would like to. Considering the sheriffs make around half of what the town cops make it is foolish not to look at the option of getting services from the sheriffs. If protection is the concern Depew could add additional sheriff cars under contract at a substantially lower cost. The only way Depew police would be sucked up by the towns would be if the village itself were abolished, then the towns provide police protection for their respective towns.

If the Village of Depew dissolves, the Town is obligated to provide and absorb services such as police protection. HOWEVER, should Depew (while in existence) decide to abolish its police department the sheriffs police the village by default. Thisis something that could and should happen now. Removing the burden of a village police department would reduce the burden on a village taxpayer. Splitting the coverage 1/2 to Cheektowaga and 1/2 to Lancaster police doen't make sense largely because the officers in these towns make outrageous amounts of money. Sheriffs operate at a fraction of that cost due to their salary structure and size.

I encourage you to explore other areas of the country and you will see mostly sheriffs patrol versus town and village police departments. Let's face it police protection is police protection, does it really matter what name is on the car? My point is that savings and efficiency can be achieved with some thought and making difficult decisions which apparently is not an option for our Town I still say WHY NOT? If a Town like Clarence can do it why can't we? Several options exist, 1. Abolish the Village and/or Town police departments and obtain services from the sheriff (like Clarence, Elma, Grand Island, Alden, Newstead, Colden, Collins, North Collins, Concord, Colden, Holland, Sardinia, Marilla, Wales, Boston), 2. Supplement our police department with the sheriffs meaning keep our town department and supplement vacancies with sheriffs, like Akron and Brant 3.) Make Lancaster Police a part-time department with sheriffs as the lead agency (like Springville). Springville contracts with the sheriff to provide dedicated police protection that way a minimum level of protection is always dedicated to the village. There is absolutely no reason why Lancaster cannot request supplemental assistance from the sheriffs, the Town just CHOOSES not to. Even if we maintain our police department why not utilize a service at our disposal? The easy answer is insecurity of our police department. Apparently Lancaster is willing to give a blank check while other towns are a little more intelligent and open-minded to see police protection can be delivered more efficiently.

The biggest problem is that we want change as long as it doesn't affect the relatives and friends of politicians. What is going to happen once the villages are dissolved and the big push toward dissolving towns begins? Each municipality is in control of its own destiny. Towns and villages can survive by delivering services the most economical and efficient way. The first step is to look at the biggest cost of most municipalities, the local police. Why is this a forbidden topic? Real change involves difficult choices, not popular choices. Our town board has clearly shown they are not capable of that. It is up to the voting public to begin informing each other and force real change, not "cosmetic" change.

We need to stop the bonding of $8 million to reconstruct/construct improvements to a town building (3949 Walden Avenue police facility). We need to explore all options first. Do we really need a 40,000 sq ft police department? Maybe we could pay for a new police station if we weren't paying our police department employees so much money!! Lancaster has one of the highest paid police departments in our area!! Don't believe me, check it out for yourself. We need to control our spending and bring our department in line with other departments. We need to consider other options for policing. Why can't we supplement our force with sheriffs or troopers?

Do we really need so many police officers? It's almost comical to see 4 or 5 police cars chasing an alarm at a business. Comical until I think about these numbers:

Police Chief – $104,371
Police Captains (2) -$87,293
Lieutenants (7) -$76,379
D.A.R.E. Officer - $69,183
Detective –Lieutenant - $77,714
Detectives (6) - $69,183
School Resource Officers (2) - $69,183
Police Officers (24) - $65,359
Police Officers on Step (2) -$58,823
Police Officers on Step (3) - $55,555
Police Dispatchers (11) - $50,464

The total in salaries comes out to $3.87 million for 50 sworn officers and 16 civilians. Why is the town police budget $8.45 million, when the sheriffs department provides services for $13 million?

State Troopers make around $77,000 per year, Lancaster makes about $65,000 per year and the county makes about $50,000 per year.

The sheriffs department (police division) has a 2010 budget of about 13 million dollars. Aside from police services the sheriffs provide special services such as bomb squad, SWAT, underwater/dive team, detective bureau, fire investigation, civil process, accident investigation, weapons and ordinance, traffic bureau, aviation, marine, warrants squad, snowmobile, ATV, ect. (www.erie.gov/sheriff). Compare those numbers and services with Lancaster.


Look at some of this crap,
At the January Organizational meeting, the follow resolution was approved “as it has been customary in the past to extend certain benefits enjoyed by the members of the Lancaster Town Police Department under their negotiated contract:

Section 4.01 Uniform allowance
Section 4.02 Uniforms and equipment
Section 6.02 Shift equalization pay
Section 6.05 Longevity pay
Section 6.07 Rate of pay
Section 6.10 Briefing pay
Section 6.12 Misc. sell back
Section 6.13 Shooting proficiency
Section 8.01 Holidays
Section 8.02 Personal leave
Section 9.01 Vacations
Section 9.03 Accrued vacation and unused holidays
Section 10.01 Sick leave
Section 10.02 Sick bank (Captains only)
Section 10.03 Sick leave upon retirement
Section 11.01 Death benefits
Section 11.02 Life insurance (Captains only)
Section 11.03 Indemnity
Section 11.04 Health insurance
Section 12.01 Retirement benefits
Section 15.02 Education incentive pay


Erie County Sheriff's provide police protection to two-thirds of Erie County. Some areas are of course are rural but several are not. Lancaster is bordered on the north, south and east of the town with towns that use the sheriffs. Towns that use the sheriff include Alden, Boston, Brant, Clarence, Colden, Collins, Concord, Elma, Grand Island, Holland, Marilla, Newstead, North Collins (town and village), Sardinia, Springville, Wales, as well as the indian reservation. The sheriffs also provide backup service for Akron and Eden. Angola and Blasdell were once served by the sheriffs.

I come from Elma where my town was patrolled by the sheriffs. I can speak for people I know from Elma that love the sheriffs. 20 minute response times is RIDICULOUS!! That is nothing more than a scare tactic. Barking dogs and loud music calls might take longer than Lancaster residents are used to but certainly not high priority calls. Give me a break!!! I think what we pay for police is a luxury we can no longer afford. If getting rid of our force is not an option (I disagree) than why can't we supplement our force? Do we need so many officers for such a small town? Are the salaries and bennies reasonable? We need to be smarter like Clarence and Elma to realize that you can save boatloads without supporting the fat of the police. The police facility may need to be renovated but perhaps it could be scaled way down by making it a substation? The sheriffs patroled Lancaster before the police force came into existence. But the police has become the product of friends giving friends and families jobs. A way for the town to keep their finger on things and maintain control. $65,000 for a patrolman, are you serious? We need to start looking at what a patrolman makes in other towns, the County, and the State. I bet the numbers will blow your mind. Unfortunately our leaders accept past practice and do not explore other options. I strongly believe town police departments are a luxury.

Lancaster patrolmen get picked up every shift, isn't that ridiculous. I wish I had someone to pick me up everyday to save gas money. Why should us taxpayers have to pay to give someone a ride on town gas? $65,000 a year plus bennies isn't enough? What about the school resource officers that get town police cars that they take to school each day. All they do is sit at school all day, why do they need their own cars? Why can't they drive themselves to work like the rest of us? No one questions this stuff... what a waste! I also believe it’s totally necessary to use Lancaster Patrolmen to hand deliver the agendas every other week to each and every council Member and department heads.

I know about quite a bit about the sheriffs especially after moving here. I never understood the difference between sheriffs and police. Now I do. I still believe we need to explore our options. If abolishing our force is not an option and if manpower shortage is a perceived problem (which I may dispute) then why not supplement our manpower with sheriffs? It would be much cheaper and would increase protection. Although I maintain town police departments are expensive luxuries I am also smart enough to see that the police department here has a choke hold on residents and will deploy scare tactics into exploring any other policing option. I sound like a broken record but if other comparable towns can do it why can't we?

Keep focused. The sheriffs department is a large agency. There is the corrections division (holding center and jail) and then there is the police division. Each is independent of each other. Take a look at your tax bill and see what you pay for town police protection. Now look and see what you pay for sheriffs that protect 2/3 of the county.

Eliminating the problem is no easy task and will certainly meet with heavy opposition from those directly impacted. We first need to look at what we want to achieve. This topic has driven me to look into this much deeper, looking at county charters, state law, and to start asking around about what other towns do.


OPTION 1. Do we want to eliminate Lancaster police all together? If so, abolishment of the police department automatically transitions everything over to the sheriff. The sheriff is obligated to provide the service (state law). If Lancaster decided minimum coverage was required (example 4 cars per shift) then Lancaster could contract with the sheriffs for that dedicated protection. If no contract existed then the sheriffs would cover the town but minimum coverage would not be in place. Remember sheriffs make a fraction of what town police make (http://wwww.erie.gov/exec/public/pdf...kA_adopted.pdf). Also remember that the corrections side of the sheriffs department is seperate from the police services division.

OPTION 2. Supplement the current police force with sheriffs. There is no reason why Lancaster couldn't request supplemental forces from the sheriff.

OPTION 3. Future vacancies or the perceived need for manpower increase could be done by bringing in sheriffs. Costs of filling vacancies with sheriffs would drastically lower costs for the town.

OPTION 4. Lancaster police becomes a part-time police department with the sheriffs as the primary response agency. Lancaster police would be charged with the lower priority calls and would get out into the neighborhoods to keep the community touch. This way residents wouldn't lose some of the "small town" services. Several towns in Erie County do this already.

If I raised your blood pressure, good. If I made you angry, good. If I made you frustrated, good. We need to push the envelope and each other in order for any change to take place.

If you simply dismiss any of my points then you are clearly not being open minded. Don't listen to what others tell you or what you have heard from others. Go to the source if you want the real answers. Don't listen to Lancaster cops, don't listen to our elected officials, don't listen to sheriffs deputies. Get the answers straight from our Police Chief and our County Sheriff. Maybe get both of them to straighten this all out.

[Tangodown]

Why did you move to Lancaster Then?

Are you telling me you just noticed this on your taxes?

You sound like a you are a Sheriff Department-head and are looking for a power grab. Small town politics are bad enough, but that is small time compared to the politics in the Erie County and the Sheriffs Department.

I was following your Wake up WNY posting and now you want to start another one about the same thing?

Most, as in vast majority, of Lancaster and every other larger suburban town want their own Police department and for a lot of very good reasons that were brought up in your other post.

I think you may have a Beef with the Lancaster Police, maybe they arrested you or wrote you a ticket and now you are angry.

[WNYRealist]

Why did you move to Lancaster Then?

Are you telling me you just noticed this on your taxes?

You sound like a you are a Sheriff Department-head and are looking for a power grab. Small town politics are bad enough, but that is small time compared to the politics in the Erie County and the Sheriffs Department.

I was following your Wake up WNY posting and now you want to start another one about the same thing?

Most, as in vast majority, of Lancaster and every other larger suburban town want their own Police department and for a lot of very good reasons that were brought up in your other post.

I think you may have a Beef with the Lancaster Police, maybe they arrested you or wrote you a ticket and now you are angry.

Don't be so defensive. I was aware of taxes but not aware of how much was carved out for police protection. I do not have any connection to Lancaster Police or the sheriffs department. And I can assure you I was never arrested. I am in independant person with no ties and maybe that is why I can look at this subject as openly as I do. I am a local family man with a solid career and no criminal dealings. All I am saying is that we need to look at this subject in detail. I have no "beef" with Lancaster police I have a "beef" with how we provide the service and how much we spend in the process. Put the sheriffs aside give it all to the troopers I'm just saying a town police department is not the way to go whether its in Lancaster, Evans, Depew, Hamburd, Orchard Park, and so on. it is simply put a duplication of service.

[Tangodown]

Don't be so defensive. I was aware of taxes but not aware of how much was carved out for police protection. I do not have any connection to Lancaster Police or the sheriffs department. And I can assure you I was never arrested. I am in independant person with no ties and maybe that is why I can look at this subject as openly as I do. I am a local family man with a solid career and no criminal dealings. All I am saying is that we need to look at this subject in detail. I have no "beef" with Lancaster police I have a "beef" with how we provide the service and how much we spend in the process. Put the sheriffs aside give it all to the troopers I'm just saying a town police department is not the way to go whether its in Lancaster, Evans, Depew, Hamburd, Orchard Park, and so on. it is simply put a duplication of service.

$20-30 a month is hardly carving.

Maybe if you approached this in a different way you might get some attention. Like, try reading what you wrote and from a third persons standpoint you pretty much called the Lancaster Police a bunch of unprofessional, political hacks.

Now, I've been around enough to know just how political the ECSD is, wink, wink.

I think what you really need to do is say: I think the entire region would fair better with a metropolitan police force, instead of each town having it's own fiefdom, and a sheriffs office on top of that.. That would be a better sell and would actually probably make our taxes go down a tiny little bit.

All in all regardless of the agency almost every police officer: Trooper, Sheriff, or town end up making about the same amount of money when all is said and done. Trust me on that one, I know people in all the agencies.

Streamlining the system of services, creating a countywide metro PD is what will not only save money but put more troops in the trenches where they are needed and not hurt, but probably increase the level of service. Also it probably won't work unless everyone got on board.

Clarence needs to get it's own police force.

Where would the ECSD get the staffing to cover Lancaster, out of the sky?

You don't know as much as you think, like some of you "laws" you qoute, but i do think a Metropolitan Police Force would better serve Erie County as whole.

[WNYRealist]

$20-30 a month is hardly carving.

Maybe if you approached this in a different way you might get some attention. Like, try reading what you wrote and from a third persons standpoint you pretty much called the Lancaster Police a bunch of unprofessional, political hacks.

Now, I've been around enough to know just how political the ECSD is, wink, wink.

I think what you really need to do is say: I think the entire region would fair better with a metropolitan police force, instead of each town having it's own fiefdom, and a sheriffs office on top of that.. That would be a better sell and would actually probably make our taxes go down a tiny little bit.

All in all regardless of the agency almost every police officer: Trooper, Sheriff, or town end up making about the same amount of money when all is said and done. Trust me on that one, I know people in all the agencies.

Streamlining the system of services, creating a countywide metro PD is what will not only save money but put more troops in the trenches where they are needed and not hurt, but probably increase the level of service. Also it probably won't work unless everyone got on board.

Clarence needs to get it's own police force.

Where would the ECSD get the staffing to cover Lancaster, out of the sky?

You don't know as much as you think, like some of you "laws" you qoute, but i do think a Metropolitan Police Force would better serve Erie County as whole.

Okay so maybe my approach is flawed, I am not a cop so I apologize if I don't know the lingo. I also apologize if I made the officers of the Lancaster police seem less than what they are. I have no disrespect for the officers although there are quite a few that are political hacks. A metropolitan police force is what is needed, I agree. But I disagree that Clarence needs its own police department. Doesn't this contradict what you said? We need to get away from town fiefdoms. Metro policing will undoubtedly put more cops out where they need to be while increasing quality of service. Staffing is not a major challenge as the burden would be shared county wide at a much lower cost. Lets get the players involved!

[Bud B Boomer]

A metro police force is something I would be in favor of looking into. I don't know if it actually save us any tax dollars but why not check it out. If my understanding is correct the big stumbling block before was the widely differing police salaries and negoiated benefits among the various police departments. I don't have that data but would luv to see it; sounds like something Kevin Gaughan should research.

[WNYRealist]

A metro police force is something I would be in favor of looking into. I don't know if it actually save us any tax dollars but why not check it out. If my understanding is correct the big stumbling block before was the widely differing police salaries and negoiated benefits among the various police departments. I don't have that data but would luv to see it; sounds like something Kevin Gaughan should research.

Bud thank you for being open-minded!

[Tangodown]

Good luck getting every town to agree with it.

Just remember, even with the extras, our police officers are paid every penny they are worth, and most are not political hacks, a few are, and so are many people with private sector jobs, including corporate welfare, but I'm sure that's OK with you.

I would be open to a Metro PD but not at the cost of service. You have no idea what really happens in our communities, except what you hear in the Buffalo Snooze. I think you would have a real eye opener.

Even if you lowered their salaries your savings would be minimal.

I think Lee C. and Rooster said it like it is on your old thread, i'll give youan A for effort though.

There are alot of unwanted criminal people that come into our communities and one of the reasons our neighborhoods are as safe as they are is because of the amount of cops we have.

The average response time of the ECSD was 18min, I won't wait 18min unless there is a good reason and I feel sorry for the resident's in the outlying towns to have that lack of service, that's one reason I choose to live in Lancaster and having the Police protection I pay for. Many of us feel it is a positive thing to pay for because that's where our priorities are. Yours apparantly are not.

[WNYRealist]

The average response time of the ECSD was 18min, I won't wait 18min unless there is a good reason and I feel sorry for the resident's in the outlying towns to have that lack of service, that's one reason I choose to live in Lancaster and having the Police protection I pay for. Many of us feel it is a positive thing to pay for because that's where our priorities are. Yours apparantly are not.

I don't know where you numbers come from but you obviously cannot back that with any substance. Like I said, SCARE TACTICS! How typical. I came from one of those towns you feel sorry for. I have nothing but good things to say about their level and timeliness or service. As I mentioned previously I had to call on them a few times (none of which was because I was the offender by the way). Don't feel sorry for a town that is obviously smarter than ours. 18 minutes is obsurd, I challenge you to back that up. As with any other large department the low priority calls may wait like barking dogs, loud music and other crap). Look at Buffalo I bet their response time to those types of calls is pretty high too. And I must say that I never lacked any service when protected by the sheriffs.

[Tangodown]

And you sir use your own exxagerated numbers, because police protection is not a huge part of what we pay in taxes, actully I paid more for volunteer fire service than I did for a paid police department. Local taxes, including what we pay for police are not out of line with anywhere else in the country. I lived in Cary, NC where my brother-in-law is a cop and the base pay for a patrolman with 9 years of service is $68,000 per year, and a Lt. is $96,000they also get full medical, dental, 20 year pension, court pay, longevity pay, a take home car after 3 years, uniform allowance, shift differential and a 401k that their town matches 5%. They also have a full time paid fire departent with the same benefitts. They have 178 sworn officers for a town of 115,000 people, and is one of the top 20 safest towns over 100,000 in popuation in the country.

Don't make it sound as if our cops our overpaid and overstaffed because they are not! Don't make it sound as if your taxes are high because of the cops, because they are not because of them! Your taxes are high because of our Social Welfare system in this state has driven commercial property taxes out of this area and increased our residential property taxes because our lovely state won't overhaul there system and it's legions of voters.

I like what I pay for and $23.00 a month is not being overtaxed and I live in an average home in this town, and I don't see any lack of building $350,000 homes so your economy of scale is moot.

[captainobvious]

WNY - your crazy if you think the services recieved by the LPD are going to be the same if contracted out. There definitely is a reason why your paying a bit more than some of the bordering towns. You should be thankful for all the services they provide and heaven forbid you may some day need them.

Everyone wants the mercedes for a honda's price! If you choose to live in this area then know that your going to pay a price. If you don't agree with that, I guarantee there are homes for sale that have less taxes. Just know that with those less taxes come less services.

I guarantee your house will sell pretty quick too - since this seems to be the hot spot for home sales in wny. probably safety being one of those reasons.

Like was mentioned before, I too think you have another issue with an officer or something because all you were spitting is venom. Be thankful for what you have, because there are many who do not have these luxuries.

[WNYRealist]

Be thankful for what you have, because there are many who do not have these luxuries.

Exactly, luxury.

[Tangodown]

Elma, Clarence, etc are NOT comparable to Lancaster. Who would pay for the additional Sheriffs? Patrol cars and equipment for them? At best your tax bill you pay for police would drop about 10-15% or about $25-$30 per year for the average resident. Stop slanting and spinning your numbers.

I'll pay the 30 bucks for what you call a "Luxury", I call it the safety of my Family, my neighborhoods and my property.

The real BIG part of your tax bill is going to pay for Social Welfare, a bloated Socialist State government, and the "hidden part" is corporate welfare. Try putting your energy into something that will make a Big difference instead of trying to save $30 a year because you hate the local cops and glorify one of the biggest political scams in Erie county!

We like our cops, move back to Elma if you don't. Oh and by the way Iroquois school district pays higher taxes than Lancaster School district, just look at Gorja's list of property tax assessments.

[captainobvious]

I second that -

I'm willing to pay $30 if not more a year to know that someone right around the corner is going to be there.

What I don't like paying for is the free ride that many get her in NYS. People that don't work or have never worked continually reproducing and getting nice big fat assistance checks as they roll around in thier fancy vehicles, the ones that I can only dream of affording.

[Consolidation]

I think you guys in Lancaster should look to a town, north of Syracuse: Clay, NY. They voted to abolish their PD, over a year ago, and contracted with Onondaga County Sheriff's Office. Property taxes went down, immediately, 20%. Same amount of police on the streets, less cost. Only a star on the side of the car. All the people who said if they lost their local police that the sky would fall are all very satisfied with the results. Call the town hall and ask. Not one complaint, after the change. The town voted 3 to 1 in favor of getting rid of local police.

Don't fool yourselves into believing that just the ECSO is political . . . all police agencies are political: village, town, county and state. They are all political.

I have lived in other states and local government was county government. Schools, highway, police (sheriff), fire protection, everything was at the county level. My property taxes were almost half of what they are here in WNY and the services were better.

I understand that everyone grew up with town and village services and that's what they are used to having. However, only 11 states provide government like we do in New York and they are all dying; even before the recession.

Could the sheriff's office provide police protection to a local town? Absolutely!

Will you know your police? Yes, just ask the residents of the Village of Springville. They have had a contract for years with the ECSO. The same deputies work the village shift after shift.

The Sheriff's are the lowest police, in the county. Please check the official numbers, not what a friend of a friend tells you. The state police are the highest with base pay of $87,000/year, plus benefits which include uniforms and dry cleaning. It costs well over a $100,000/year to put a basic trooper on the road. They are no more trained than the Lancaster PD or a sheriff's deputy (road patrol).

Please stick to facts and not emotions when you debate the issue.

If you feel more comfortable having your own police, God bless you, but don't complain about the costs.

Some of you may be asking why I came back to WNY: family. Otherwise, I never would have come back. Too much government and nasty politics.

Good luck Lancaster!