Police regionalization is a hot topic among municipalities in Carbon County right now, but Jim Thorpe Borough will not be taking a seat at the table.

Borough Council unanimously voted Thursday night to reject any regionalization possibilities for its police department in response to a recent letter sent by Carbon County District Attorney Michael Greek.

Greek sent a letter to municipalities, saying, “The current political and economic climate has made it even more difficult to hire and retain law enforcement officers or provide for adequate facilities, equipment and training. This obviously has a direct effect on the safety and security of our communities.”

He encouraged boroughs to “reach out to your neighboring municipal leaders to consider regionalization of police forces.”

Jim Thorpe Mayor Michael Sofranko said while he values Greek’s attempts to help, the borough would not benefit.

“We have a very good department that is fully staffed and we have thankfully been able to attract officers to come here,” Sofranko said. “We constantly have people taking the civil service test and we’re very fortunate for that. We do understand that other areas are having trouble getting officers but for Jim Thorpe, we don’t need to sit at that table right now.”

According to Greek, the benefits of regionalization include improvement in uniformity and consistency of enforcement; coordination of law enforcement services; recruitment; distribution and deployment of police personnel; training and personnel efficiency; management and supervision; improved specialization of services; greater accessibility to grants and reduction in overall costs.

“We just don’t think it makes sense for the borough right now,” Council President Greg Strubinger said.

Other areas are looking at a regionalization study. Summit Hill Mayor Jeffrey Szczecina told his council that Greek will meet with representatives of the three Panther Valley boroughs - Summit Hill, Lansford and Nesquehoning - to further discuss the concept. Lehighton Borough has also said it would consider discussing the idea further.

“We’re happy to help other areas when their officers are in need,” Sofranko said. “We’ll never deny mutual aid or going to help someone else, but regionalization just wouldn’t be in our best interest at this time.”