A Deschutes County Sheriff's Office patrol car(Andy Tullis/Bulletin file photo)

Some members of the Sisters community are talking about establishing a city police department. The city has grown, after all, and it might be time to end its contract with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and go it alone.

Officials should think long and hard before they go that route, however. Being part of the larger sheriff’s office may offer benefits a much smaller department could not.

The city disbanded its own police department Jan. 1, 1998. Doing that, and contracting with the sheriff’s office to provide service in its place, saved the city money immediately. Arguably, those savings continue today.

The city does not have to provide equipment — everything from radios to computers to vehicles — for the county’s deputies who work in Sisters. It does not directly pay health benefits, nor retirement, nor salaries. Presumably its contract with the county is enough to cover the county’s costs.

More important, perhaps, the small city of under 3,000 has access to all of the expertise, personnel and other services at the sheriff’s office’s disposal. That can come in handy, according to a recent article in the Nugget, the Sisters newspaper. Recently, the article said, an officer serving a warrant in Sisters was assisted by the sheriff’s department SWAT team. In addition, the county maintains vehicles, provides detectives, and so on.

Currently the city pays for a single on-duty deputy 24 hours a day, though others are available. Officials worry that might not be enough coverage. After all, the city is growing, and its 2,500-plus population is much bigger than the 800 or so residents there in 1998.

They may be right. But, after close examination, they may decide it’s cheaper, both in the short term and the long run, to simply contract with the sheriff’s office for more full-time deputies. It’s an arrangement that has served the city well for 20 years, and it shouldn’t be abandoned without careful research.