An Ellicott police sport utility vehicle is pictured outside the township building. P-J file photo

Noting the difficulties in finding and retaining police officers, Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist has again approached the town of Ellicott about creating a metro police division.

Sundquist brought up the proposal in an email sent to town Supervisor Janet Bowman in late July. The city mayor indicated in his email, shared with The Post-Journal, that a discussion on a metro police division had previously started with Ellicott’s past supervisor, Patrick McLaughlin, prior to his departure.

“I assume, like us, it has been difficult to find and retain police officers with the number of policing agencies in and around the area, including the Sheriff,” said Sundquist, who indicated in his correspondence that the town could contract with Jamestown for policing services.

“(It’s) something that could be done for less than the town is paying now in policing costs,” Sundquist told Bowman.

Asked about the idea of establishing the metro police force, Sundquist no in-person discussions have taken place. He indicated that a meeting might occur after the Labor Day holiday.

Bowman said no talks have taken place between the municipalities, but confirmed they have agreed to schedule a meeting.

After receiving Sundquist’s email, Bowman met with Ellicott Police Chief William Ohnmeiss Jr. and brought the email up during the Town Board’s most recent meeting.

PAST CONSOLIDATION TALKS

Talks of shared or consolidated policing is nothing new to the area, especially Jamestown.

Former Mayor Sam Teresi got the ball rolling on a possible consolidation between JPD and the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office in 2007 when he broached the topic in his annual State of the City address. A task force on the subject formed later that year.

In December 2008, the City Council applied for a grant from the state Department of State Local Government Efficiency program to study the consolidation. A month later, the city was awarded a $400,000 grant.

The city and county eventually completed a consolidation study with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, resulting in a baseline analysis of opportunities and challenges confronting the first city-county merger of police operations in the state.

In 2012, City Council voted to take the next step in the consolidation process by entering into a contract with the Center for Governmental Research for $168,000 to analyze the differences and similarities between the two departments and draft a plan for implementation. That same year, the Center for Governmental Research released a report detailing options for merging the Jamestown Police Department and the Sheriff’s Office. One of the options proposed from the report was for Jamestown to contract for staffing services with the county. The plan proposed that as Jamestown officers left, they would be replaced by a sheriff’s deputy. The deputy would be assigned to the city and report to Jamestown’s police chief, but would be accountable under the sheriff.

In March 2016, the City Council approved funding $20,000 to the Center for Governmental Research for the next phase related to the completion of a police consolidation study.

Plans, however, fell apart after neither side could come to an agreement.

STAFFING SHORTAGES

In his annual report, Jamestown Police Chief Timothy Jackson noted the “nationwide shortage of qualified police officer candidates” that prevented the department from establishing new specialized units — firearm violence and nuisance complaints. Since then, JPD has created a nuisance officer position that has paid immediate dividends.

In a recent interview, Jackson recalled there were 30 cadets in the policy academy when he attended. He said classes are about half that now.

“A lot of the smaller, surrounding police departments are struggling to find enough part-time officers to get their staffing to 100%,” Jackson said. “This is a problem we’re seeing all over.”

Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone called the lack of qualified applicants “a real issue” in the community. “Nationwide, we’re seeing a shortage of applicants wanting to pursue careers in law enforcement,” he told the newspaper recently.

Quattrone said the Sheriff’s Office has had to cut back on its lake patrols in order to utilize deputies for transports of jail inmates and “other tasks.”

The town of Ellicott, including the villages of Celoron and Falconer, is served by the Ellicott Police Department.