Oxford, Maryland, isn’t a big town. Most people, in fact, would consider it downright tiny. Covering less than a square mile, it only boasts a little over 600 citizens. Small as it is, its government is about to get even smaller.

In late February, the city commission held a meeting at which they discussed the increasingly bleak future of their police department. Currently, there is only one police officer in Oxford. The chief of the department was fired “for cause” last November and will be tough to replace — considering the agency has seen only one employment application in the past three years. Instead of appointing a new chief, the town signed a contract to obtain extra patrol coverage from the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office. That extra patrol supplements the work of the town’s remaining officer. The contract is due to expire in June, but some on the council see it as an opportunity to make more sweeping changes.

Oxford Town Manager Holly Wahl pitched the idea of simply doing away with the police department altogether.

“Not having our own police department is a kind of psychological loss,” Commissioner David Donovan told WBOC News.

“The current coverage of a chief and a sergeant is only given as about 20% coverage,” Wahl told the council. “However if we execute an agreement with the Sheriff’s Office, it’s projected that we could actually increase our coverage ratio to 45% and still have a cost savings to the town.”

The relatively small percentage of time that the current department is able to spend patrolling is due to issues such as court attendance, training and “administrative” time. A larger agency like the county sheriff’s office, on the other hand, already has those functions built into its budget.

Whereas many countries throughout the world utilize a centralized policing structure (in which a single, central police agency employs officers), law enforcement in the United States is fragmented. The vast majority of law enforcement is conducted by local governments. Many have chosen to forgo running their own police department, opting instead for contract arrangements such as the one being discussed by Oxford. Cost is the obvious advantage, and it’s hard to argue with the numbers. In the case of Oxford, the town manager estimates that they spend around $255 per hour to run their own agency. Contracting the sheriff’s office to provide dedicated patrol services is expected to cost significantly less.

Shuttering the police department is an obvious way of saving money, but cities that do so lose something. The decentralized setup in the U.S. means that government takes place much closer to the citizenry. When a city (especially a small one) surrenders that, they arguably lose a great deal. A former Oxford police chief (not the one who was fired) showed up to the meeting, arguing that the town needs its own department so that citizens can know their officers.

The commission acknowledges the value of that concept. “Not having our own police department is a kind of psychological loss,” Commissioner David Donovan told WBOC News.

With only one officer remaining and a great deal of annual savings on the line, it’s pretty likely that Oxford will move forward with its plan to shutter the police department. The town manager spoke rather effectively about the financial benefits, so it’s hard to argue in favor of forcing residents to pay more taxes. Interestingly, though, small towns that close their police departments rarely follow their logic to its natural conclusion. If firing the police officers would save money, how much more money could be saved by getting rid of the town manager as well? In other words, if the police department isn’t actually needed, why is the town government itself needed? In the same way that a county government can often step in and provide satisfactory law enforcement services, it could likely replace all of the services the town provides.

The town commissioners will be providing more details about the possible police closure at their next meeting, but residents shouldn’t expect that real cost-saving option to be on the table.