BEACON – The Beacon City Council is looking into the possibility of consolidating police services as Mayor Randy Casale said the city is taking advantage of any grant monies being made available by Dutchess County to review such services.
A request for proposals was issued for a consultant to conduct a study. City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero recommended that Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress be granted a contract to look into options. That agency has expertise in field of consolidations of government functions.
Pattern President Jonathan Drapkin said while police consolidation is very hard to do, it should be considered.
“The delivery of police services has gathered a great deal of attention in the last year or two, not just in New York, but throughout the country and we think that any effort to try to figure out how to improve upon that delivery of services is important, whether it is consolidation, whether it’s sharing services, whether it’s sharing facilities, and when you do so, you must communicate what you are doing to the community so it is not a surprise,” Drapkin said.
Casale said anything that improves services is “a good thing.”
