There's a lot to like about the new regional crime laboratory that is based in the Portland Police Department building, but is shared by seven other municipalities and the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.

Equipment to analyze fingerprints, to find invisible stains on cloth and to create enhanced photographs that no one department could afford is now available to all of them just by sharing resources.

They will also be able to share expertise. Not every department can afford to have someone trained in some of the esoteric specialties of police work, but now each can pick the brain of someone who has.

The central location will also allow detectives from different towns to share information and compare notes on cases.

The only question is, why just the crime lab? Why isn't there more of this kind of cooperation?

In Cumberland County there are 10 independent police departments in addition to the sheriff's office, many with their own dispatch centers. The county sheriff has a regional dispatching service that in many cases could provide small towns with better service for less money. Still, some communities are reluctant to give up their local dispatch center. Why?

Is it really necessary for every town to run its own administrative office functions for its public safety department?

Does it matter who actually writes a police officer's paycheck?

For historical reasons, Maine has a tradition of municipal government providing public safety services, and for reasons that have little to do with high quality and affordable service, municipalities cling to independent departments.

Two economic forces are now at work to change that, however. As police work gets more high-tech, departments are going to be hard-pressed to pay for all the equipment they will need to do their jobs.

At the same time, state funds, through programs like revenue sharing and general purpose aid to education, are getting cut, putting more pressure on local property-taxpayers to keep up with the demand on services.

Local governments will be looking for ways to save money, and if moving to regional police departments is too radical and idea for some people, at least looking to regionalize aspects of the departments should be on the agenda.

The new police crime lab is a perfect example how it could work. By pooling resources, the service gets better as the price per department goes down.

The same is true for the county dispatch center, which can provide more information to officers in the field faster than a typical town center. And it saves the local taxpayers money.

There are other efficiencies out there; it will just require some creative thinking and a willingness to try something new.

With the pressure on local budgets, towns should look for other ways to follow the crime lab's example.