Aesop's Astronomer, who was so taken with the starry skies of his studies he tripped and fell into the well, was reminiscent of the editorial "Idea of a single police force is worth the study," (Aug. 4). If saving money is the goal, it looks like Old Lyme has been, all along, “doing more with less,” to quote The Day. Based on town populations and numbers of full-time constables, East Lyme has an approximate 800 residents-per-officer ratio, while Old Lyme’s is about 1,200.

Old Lyme is still using the resident state trooper arrangement; it would need to increase its officer count by about a third to equal East Lyme’s concentration. Conversely, East Lyme would need to reduce its now 23 officers to about 17 to equal Old Lyme’s. With regionalization comes that risky inverse of assigning more power to fewer hands. Both towns’ Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports should be reviewed, along with disclosures of all parties financially involved with any merger proposals.

Want to save money? East Lyme was hit with a sizeable lawsuit some years ago for police misconduct. How about investing in constant-on body cams for officers to use in the course of their duties? Both citizenry and police would be better insured against any skullduggery.

Eric Straub

East Lyme