But while the wheels of small town government grind slowly, law enforcement leaders on the Vineyard have quietly developed what amounts to — in some important ways — a virtual regional police department.

 

Information sharing is no longer a theoretical discussion but an actual practice, thanks to an improved computer system that allows the six police departments to swap reports and other intelligence. The six police chiefs, in concert with the county sheriff and state police, have formed a law enforcement council that meets regularly and is able to secure grant money. An Islandwide tactical response team is trained and at the ready when needed to respond to incidents that require special handling, as they were this spring when a domestic disturbance in a quiet West Tisbury neighborhood became a fatal double shooting.

 

And on the Fourth of July in downtown Edgartown, the most hectic night of the year, you are likely to find police officers from every Island department.

 

 In a visit to the Gazette last week, the Vineyard chiefs even had praise for the state police, a relationship so strained in many communities that it’s become a staple of crime fiction and police dramas.

As West Tisbury chief Dan Rossi said, “I think there’s a different philosophy on the Island, compared to off-Island . . . It’s just another tool on everybody’s belt.”

 

Listening to the Vineyard’s six police chiefs talk about the challenges of policing on the Vineyard and watching their easy rapport, we get a clear sense of mutual respect and shared mission that is unusual among any group of public servants.

 

It is critical that public safety and security know no town boundaries, and it is deeply reassuring to know that the Vineyard has a commitment to cooperation at the highest levels of community law enforcement. That’s the best kind of regionalism.