On Thursday, Aug. 7, the Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 to not move forward with a plan to form a county police department headed by an appointed chief of police.

As with far too many critical issues facing Carroll County these days, by the time the commissioners took the vote last week they were up to their necks in alligators and too many folks had forgotten that the mission was to drain the swamp.

Life is too short for rancor. I'm reminded that "free speech is enhanced by civility."

Unfortunately, the discussion and dialogue over the future of law enforcement in Carroll County took on the look and feel of a kindergarten food fight.

Eventually voters threw up their hands and resigned themselves to the understanding that they'll never know for sure what is true. And so, confusion reigns.

In a recent grocery store checkout line, conversation a middle-aged woman remarked about the controversy, "I'm trying to remember why I don't really care about this ..."

Well, we all should care. One of the reasons we have a high quality of life in Carroll County is our extraordinarily low crime rate.

It is a reputation we enjoy throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Folks from other parts of the state are mystified about our latest political theater over police protection. We have highly qualified law enforcement officers from several different agencies, all of whom are particularly interested in our health, safety and welfare.

Just think, we could be living in Prince George's County, where recently the home of the Berwyn Heights' mayor was the scene of a home invasion.

According to accounts in The Sun, the Washington Post and elsewhere, on the evening of July 30, heavily armed individuals broke down the mayor's front door, tied him and his mother-in-law up and shot the family's two beloved black Labrador retrievers.

Police did not have far to look to find those responsible for this act -- it was the Prince George's sheriff's department and county police who conducted the operation, believing the mayor's family to be involved in a drug purchase.

They have since been cleared. Oh ... oops, never mind.

I have intelligent friends who have asked me for my opinion about the commissioners' police proposal with the sort of wide-eyed insistence I usually associate with people recounting their abduction by aliens.

At my advanced age I realize the ultimate solution is well beyond the scope of this column.

While various folks scuffle in the pursuit of their own self-interests, the real enemy of our quality of life -- crime -- is still at work.

It is events such as this that will produce future indictments of feckless community leaders who spend their time looking for political advantage instead of ensuring that our communities remain safe in the future.

The matter of securing adequate police protection in the future is not going to go away, although it will now be an issue for debate in the upcoming 2010 commissioner elections.

Between now and then, hopefully the public will develop a list of meaningful criteria in order to determine the: who, what, why, when, where and how of future police protection.

For example, what will it cost to develop a new agency from the ground up? Do we really want a police agency with no civilian command and control oversight?

In the middle of the night, when most of us call the police for help, the overwhelming majority of us do not give a rat's behind what uniform shows up -- as long as they care, are well trained and properly equipped.

Kevin Dayhoff is the former mayor of Westminster. E-mail him at kdayhoff@carr.org.

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