Lake County's police and fire departments gathered last week to discuss joint ventures that could improve safety without lightening taxpayers' wallets. It is a good sign.

Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez urged representatives from those police and fire departments to show solidarity on common issues, such as consolidation of 911 and emergency dispatching services. Doing so would increase the county's chances of getting the state to help pay for this consolidation, Dominguez said.

That's only one reason to cooperate. The new Lake County Public Safety Commission is likely to find common ground on other issues as well.

Lake County has no shortage of law enforcement agencies and fire departments, the result of the many communities that have been established. Without agreement on major issues, that fractionalization could harm the county.

Dominguez's urging of consolidating 911 and emergency dispatching services follows the recommendations of the Good Government Initiative report. He could and should go even further to recommend other consolidation, but at least this is a start.

The sheriff wants the county's law enforcement agencies to work toward consolidation of dispatching services so they can show some progress before the consolidation becomes required by state law.

Some of the agencies on the Lake County Public Safety Commission use dispatchers for other tasks as well, including interaction with the public and data analysis.

But software can make data analysis much easier -- especially if the dispatching is centralized. And the departments could hire people to interact with the public for less than they are paying the dispatchers.

This reform is long overdue. Lake County is one of only seven counties in Indiana without centralized dispatching.

For Lake County's police and fire departments to work together on consolidation is a good start toward the improvement of public safety and at less cost to the taxpayers. Keep up the good work.