It's really mind-boggling to me that anyone in the USA can hop online and talk to people from all over the world, yet we still think that stuff they take for granted elsewhere is impossible.
Just get rid of all these small Sheriffs and police departments. One ploice forse for state and one federal works well, most other developed countries have around 2 to 3 main police forces (depeding on how you count). Limiting the number of police departments also makes hiring and common standards a lot easier.
There are some issues with that approach. Example: the county (and surrounding areas) where I'm typing this has significant enough issues with agricultural & rural crime that they set up a dedicated task force to fight it (this is unfortunately now common with counties like ours in CA).
It's not just equipment or product either (i.e. stealing trucks filled with almonds), but there are methheads who actually steal dairy calves up in the central valley.
Sacramento doesn't really care. The dollar figures are relatively low when you consider the size of the state, there aren't a ton of voters in those areas, and a fair bit of those voters tend to lean further right politically than present leadership. So, the locals have to take care of it.
It is roughly the same argument as the (gulp) electoral college: if the coastal megacities make all the decisions, who sticks up for the person in Idaho and their needs? Also, Sheriffs are almost always elected positions, so the public gets an opportunity to directly influence leadership of their local law enforcement.
That said, I'm not a huge fan of our local PD, and enforcing standards is a fair point.
