One more case was made for the possible consolidation of the largest north county Police Departments. In making his plea to village trustees, Chief David Price talked about the lack of candidates for open positions.

“I’m not asking for additional staff, and I’m below where we were 10 years ago,” he said. “There are no part time positions available anymore, and that’s because of a nationwide policing shortage (that) hit our county really bad.”

The police chief continued, “If we fail to do something, it will be a year and half before we even have an opportunity to hire. Within that time, I could lose other people… I recognize that I do have a young department, but we have to do something at this time to get us back to even, and I’m hoping things will level off based on the age of my department.”

Fredonia, of course, is facing a financial shortfall and the city of Dunkirk is in full crisis after borrowing $16 million from New York state last year to make ends meet. There is some hope, especially from Albany, that the two entities will seriously consider joining forces. There could be savings — and an infusion of cash to make it happen.

That “shortage” in manpower that Price mentions also is one more reason to look at the option.