South Abington Cops Come to Newton

[Sal]

As of Tuesday, South Abington Police will begin patrols in Newton.

With each passing day, more of your money will be wasted.  
Keep that in mind up until Primary day.

We have new people to run for supervisors.  Voting for any of the current wasteful supervisors would be a foolish thing.

I know for a fact that the new people will communicate on this website and make information and public records available.

They will keep you informed, cancel the contract with South Abington and hire Newton police officers and a lot more.

Stay tuned; things are going to get very interesting

The names of the new people running for supervisors will be made available once it is official.

[Floyd]

I completely disagree with SAPD patrols in our fair township! Cost effectivness aside I'm not comfortable with the SAPD. As referenced in a post by tdl311, I'm not convinced the SAPD will be a quick responder. Lets face it, I've lived in Newton a long time, raised my children here and enjoy the pace. We have survived quite nicley with Chief Reese and if we need ot go to 2 part time officers (local ones) then so be it.
There should have been some type of public notice at the polls or a referendum.
I doubt many people are aware the we are joining and contributing to the sprawl of the SAPD.
Please note: if there were true regionalization of police, I would be in favor.
Floyd

[davidk]

I wonder how the residents of SA feel about their police being out here too? I wonder how many even know?

[Floyd]

I'm not sure they  know, but it is revenue for their township.
Floyd

[Sal]

It was amusing to see three South Abington supervisors outsmart five foolish Newton supervisors and their inept lawyer but the joke is over.

Carl Caswell and I are taking over as supervisors and we do not appreciate our taxpayer’s money being wasted.  South Abington need to stop taking advantage of Newton and squandering our money simply because we are in a transitional phase and still have inept people in office.  That is not a neighborly thing to do.

Mr. Caswell and I will not take kindly to this and this will have and impact on future relationships with South Abington if they do not quit.

[shameau99]

I think it is GREAT to finally have some professional police from SA who know what they are doing and can get to a call before the  Newton Cop can even get into the police car. I know------I've seen it happen    You seem to think that Newton can have good police service by getting more police on the payroll in Newton. The only thing that will happen will be to have taxes go up even more. If having a regional force isn't cost effective then WHY is it being implimented in other communities and growing in popularity.
South Abington Police force is like having LOCAL POLICE right here in the community. Two of them live in Newton and know the area inside and out. The other officers have been around long enough to know the area. They are knowlegable and professional. I say our supervisors made an excellent choice and I back them completely as well as do many of my family and friends. I will  spread the word to help keep this township moving forward instead of more in debt as is what will happen if you have your way. You and your buddy will not get my vote.[/b]

[Sal]

Hello shameau99 and welcome to the boards.

We appreciate your opinion and opposing points of view are always welcome.  However, I am a little concerned as to whether you checked your facts.  

I remember being at the Township meeting when officials from South Abington first made their pitch and it sounded good.  However, it did not take long to get the facts and determine that is was a bad deal for Newton.

We have a cost comparison that you can see in the thread http://newtonpa.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=75  If you feel that the cost comparison is in error, please feel free to produce your own comparison.

Put simply it is costing us Thirty-thousand dollars to get 10 hours of part-time police services per week from S/A and S/A pays there part-time officers around $12.00 per hour.  If we hired our own officers, we would get 44 hours of police protection per week for the same money.  

Therefore, the taxpayers of Newton can have either 10 or 44 hours of services for the same amount of money.  

Another way of looking at this is we could hire one part-time officer for 22 hours per week and we would receive more than twice the amount of service for half of the price that we pay S/A.  

Chief, Bob Reese is a fine officer and the vast majority of the people in Newton like him.  In addition, police officers receive the same training regardless of the municipality so professionalism is not an issue.

Carl and I are looking out for the interest of the people of Newton.  We spoke with many people in this township and we were not able to find anyone that had the facts and that think the deal with S/A is good.

[Floyd]

Sal, I agree it's good to get new voices and new opinions posted on the forum.
However the opinion that the SAPD is good for Newton is decidedly misguided. Having the SAPD is NOT regionalization! It is simply outsourcing and eliminating self rule and control. Theses are basic principles of self determination. We as a township need to control our police force, not outsource to another community.
As I have stated before a regionl police force would likely be a good idea, but having the SAPD, who are controlled by another township is not regionalization.
Floyd

[Sal]

Well Floyd, you are right.

The reason we have misguided people is that the supervisors grossly mislead them.  

That is why the supervisors will not come in here and talk to the people. They know that they cannot get away with their tricks and lies here.

Others will read these posts, follow the links and get the facts, then they can decide for themselves.

The hits that this website received for January and February were impressive but as of today we received more hits in March than the previous two months combined.

The statistics are here Website Satistics and  March will be posted at the end of the month.

There is really nothing on this website other than information and there are a lot of people that come here to get it.

Therefore, we continue to put out more information, tell the truth and back the truth up with facts.  

The people will know what to do.  :wink:

[JoeP]

I'm glad to see new members and new opinions and comments.  Discussion and disagreement can be healthy.

I think Sal's numbers are solid regarding S/A police coverage in Newton but if someone can dispute them, then they should present their data so the readers can make an informed comparison and conclusion.

As far as Chief Reese service to Newton, I can personally vouch that he is a fine law enforcement officer and person of compassion.  He is more than fair, he works with the people and families of Newton, understanding their situations and works with them in resolving difficult situations.  

Again, if someone has facts that the S/A police respond faster than Chief Reese, then they should be specific and state these facts.  Since the S/A police just started, one must assume this was a recent event.  But assumptions and innuendos such as - (the S/A police) can get to a call before the Newton Cop can even get into the police car - don't cut it. I would also hope that if someone has a legitimate complaint about Chief Reese's performance, it be addressed through the proper channels, not in a public forum.

[Sal]

We need to try to keep on-topic otherwise things will get confusing.  If anyone wants to discuss a topic that is not already started, just start a new topic.

Police Regionalization is a good topic so a new thread was started.  You can find it here http://www.newtonpa.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=98  and the last two posts were moved into that thread.

[Ed]

It's March 31, 2005 and I have yet to see a SAPV patrol Willow Road. Chief Reese drives by often and when I'm around he actually waves, perhaps because he actually knows me!

[firefightr2oo6]

Post deleted at firefightr2oo6 request.

Sal