There is a whole body of international research and reports about the many complex issues that focus on the escalating cost of policing as well as the pros and cons of amalgamations and restructuring of police agencies. These are issues that most assuredly will escalate as law enforcement leaders and their political masters continue to cope with the many related challenges that abound.

Also well-documented are the conflicts, the political posturing, and the emotional roller coasters that tend to impact the mere thought of the restructuring, the reconfiguring, or the contracting out of police services. These are modern-day realities that are often seen as painful survival exercises that can shake a police agency and a community to the core.