Winder wants to take orders from an eight-member board in an attempt to save the closest thing that Salt Lake County has to a regional police department. We hope his plan works, because when it comes to providing cost-effective police services, regional forces give taxpayers more for their money.

Currently the sheriff and his deputies ride herd over the unincorporated areas of the county, while five of the county's 16 cities - Holladay, Cottonwood Heights, Riverton, Herriman and Bluffdale - pay the department for services rendered.

But the mayors in four of the five cities have been clamoring for more local control, either by forming their own departments, or creating a Unified Police District operating under interlocal agreements. So the sheriff is offering a compromise.

Winder is pushing a power-sharing proposal, a county ordinance that would create an eight-member administrative control board composed of the mayors of the five municipalities, the county mayor and two County Council members.

The board, as Winder describes it, would have sweeping powers, controlling the sheriff's office budgets, policies and personnel.

And while those powers will not be ceded under statute - state law states that the sheriff runs the sheriff's office, and the County Council controls the budget - the cities will have the right to terminate their contracts if the sheriff and the council don't follow orders.

While we're a little concerned that the guy who was elected to perform the duties of sheriff would answer to an appointed board, there's much to be said for an agreement that would keep so many cities under the same police umbrella.

With wide-ranging jurisdictions, you don't have to hope for cooperation between departments to catch criminals who do business in multiple municipalities. And bigger departments like the sheriff's office create an economy of scale that allows for more officers and specialized services - canine units, homicide specialists, crime scene investigation teams - that small cities can't afford.

The cities and the county need to make this happen. Cut through the red tape so the citizens can have a thicker blue line.