A Lansford councilwoman is hoping to gauge neighboring boroughs on whether or not they are interested in exploring police regionalization.

On Wednesday, Councilwoman Jennifer Staines approached Nesquehoning Borough Council to briefly discuss the possibility of Summit Hill, Lansford, Coaldale and Nesquehoning joining forces to create a regional police force.

One reason for this discussion is that many of the police departments around the area have trouble competing with each other regarding part-time pay rates, and have officers leave one borough for another with higher hourly wages. This has created issues with getting 24-hour coverage in some municipalities.

Staines said that Nesquehoning had previously filed paperwork to join the discussions of possible regionalization, however, the talks seemed to have fallen to the wayside with municipalities.

She added that time is running out on the paperwork that had been filed, the deadline is the end of the year.

“There’s no commitment (in this request),” Staines said. “All of this is for a sit down and to talk. A lot has changed since we did that initial paperwork and I really think we could come together with a Panther Valley Police Squad or whatever.

Staines also commended Nesquehoning police Chief Michael Weaver for his help during the initial process and wished him well in his future endeavors as he leaves for another job.

The discussion on potentially looking at police regionalization once again began earlier this month when Lansford continued to wrestle with a number of police issues.

Lansford Council President Bruce Markovich said last month that he believed it was a good idea to ask, but he wasn’t sold on the state’s regionalization process, including their funding formula.

Police regionalization studies have occurred around the area for decades, with some municipalities open to the idea, while others say they are not interested.

Across the commonwealth, 38 regional police departments exist, including locally in the Wyoming Valley, Pocono Mountain and Stroudsburg area.