CUMBERLAND — State budget cuts, future and looming, are spearheading local officials to request the Allegany County Bureau of Police to police the Georges Creek Valley town of Westernport and its estimated 2,100 residents.

Westernport Commissioner of Finance Darrell Stephen said the town reached out to Allegany County government because “we can’t have a budget that’s not funded.”

Stephen and Mayor Amel Morris are scheduled to meet with the Allegany County Board of Commissioners and acting County Administrator David Eberly Thursday during a public work session at the County Office Complex on Kelly Road. The time for the meeting, which will include talks on possibily eliminating the town’s police department, has not yet been announced.

The town has appropriated $230,000 for its police force and “we really need to take $130,000 out of the police budget,” Stephen said. “That leaves us with about $100,000. If the county were to take over, we could, as a commission, subsidize them. The county could get a lot more out of it than we can.”

Ideally, the town has a full complement of five officers, Stephen said. Due to staff turnover and other issues, the police force currently has just two officers available for duty.

“We’re a small town,” Stephen said. “Maybe we don’t need 24/7 (police protection). We’re looking at that, too. Do we really need a guy sitting there at 3 a.m. on a Sunday? We were planning on having five (officers), but that was never really realized. By the time we had a guy graduate (the training academy), we’d lose somebody.”

Bureau of Police Chief Bobby Dick said it’s clear that Westernport is in a position that it must consider alternatives.

“The funding would have to be worked out between the two government entities,” Dick said. “It clearly makes sense, I believe, for Westernport to reach out to the county.”

Eberly said Westernport’s mayor and council contacted the county a little over a week ago requesting “a formal public work session to discuss matters related to its municipal police department an the Bureau of Police.”

“I think it’s probably to everyone’s advantage to sit down and begin formal discussions face to face,” Eberly said.

He said commissioners Jim Stakem, Bob Hutcheson and Dale Lewis likely would schedule a public meeting “in Westernport sometime after this (Thursday) in the near future.”

Eberly said there are several factors to be considered, including the desired level of police presence the town would want from the county and “how much money would they be willing to put into play to help.”

The available resources of the county police agency, he said, also would have to be discussed. The Bureau of Police currently has 11 officers assigned to its patrol division. In addition, two officers are assigned to the C3I investigation unit, one is assigned to the C3I narcotics division and another officer is assigned full time at the alternative school in Eckhart.

Stephen said the officers of the bureau have a wealth of knowledge and resources to which the town currently does not have access.

“They have a lot more specialized individuals (and) experience,” Stephen said.

He said if the county and town can not reach an agreement, “there is nothing else we can do other than slim down to two officers (and) restrict overtime. I just don’t think we can afford to pay five officers to full man everything 24/7.”

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.