Police Regionalization

[shameau99]

I really think your head is in the sand and you cannot look to the future. These are some comments that  people put on Channel 16 Talkback and they understand it better then you.
Have you checked on all the thousands and thousands of dollars Newton Township paid in legal fees when we had our own Police Department ?  They kept thinking that they deserved more and more from this small town.  I stand by the idea of a REGIONAL FORCE especially when you consider that S/A has men who know how to deal with every situation that comes up.  I know I couldn't even get a return phone call back from The Newton Chief.


By: Bill in DC
Posted: Saturday, 1:04 PM
I think that a regional police force in the towns of the upper valley and the mid valley area is not such a bad idea it would save money for the towns but most importantly it would supply coverage to areas such as Jefferson Twp. where the state police cover the main times of the day freeing them up for more coverage on the interstates. Only problem I see is that the towns have to bury their pride and get along better since they are all sharing such an important area as police protection. There is still some politics being played in these towns and politics should be kept out of our police protectiom.
 
By: amazed
Posted: Saturday, 8:40 PM
Many other communities in the nation have done this, most with positive results. While very few communities can afford their own police force, a regionalized force with benefit MANY MORE thsn it would hurt. It seems the ones being hurt are the higher ups in the local departments.
 
By: Chris
Posted: Saturday, 8:57 PM
Bill, I couldn't agree more. I moved back to the area 6 months ago from the Washington DC Area. All of the police forces down there are county based and provide better protection than that of small, individual municipalities. Hopefully pride won't get in the way of something that would be a greater good for all involved.
 
By: Sally in the Valley
Posted: Sunday, 10:57 AM
I can just about throw rocks into three other towns from my house and think it's absolutely insane to attempt to provide police protection on a municipality-to-municipality basis. County wide shared coverage would eliminate questions of jurisdiction and save us all in taxes.
 
By: Ken Myers
Posted: Sunday, 4:49 PM
Some of the people up there will say that they have always done things this way, why should we change? I guess it will be a matter of pride or ego for some of these communities and their citizens.
 
By: Agamemnon
Posted: Sunday, 6:20 PM
A regional police force is an excellent idea. Kudos to the local officials who have the foresight to initiate this project. I hope that, once launched, this can eventually be expanded throughout the county, including Scranton.

- Agamemnon
 
By: Clinton County
Posted: Sunday, 8:38 PM
I totally agree that regional police protection is the only way to go. It has been tried in this area several times with no success. In my opinion, it is wrong for politics and personalities, in the different townships and municipalities, to get in the way of police protection and this seems to be the case here. I will wish your area success, tho. Wish our area would put personal feelings aside and look for the betterment of the area.

[susie]

Hi shameau99,  Can you give us more details on the legal fees that the township paid because of the police force and actual amounts?  

[Sal]

There are people that are for and against police regionalization.  In some areas it has worked but there are many communities that looked at it and it was not cost effective for them.  

To have regionalization you need cooperation from neighboring communities.  The big players in our area are Clarks Summit and South Abington.  I attend meeting regularly in Newton and I am not aware of the communities having talks about regionalization.

Beating up the Newton cop will not bring regionalization.  We only have one cop and officer Reese told me that he is not against regionalization.  If anyone wants regionalization, you need to convince the two big players to give up their police departments.  

[JoeP]

I wouldn't consider TalkBack 16 a scientific poll or even a barometer of the overall feelings in a community.  Surely one wouldn't make a decision affecting an entire community based on Talkback 16.

On the other hand, whether you agree with, like (or dislike) or want Sal as a Supervisor has nothing to do with regionalization.  Sal took the time to research, analyze and present a cost analysis and Return on Investment (ROI) paid by the taxpayer and his numbers says the residents of Newton are getting the short end of the deal.

Up to this point, Sal's has the only analysis/comparison/ROI on the table open to scrutiny.  Nothing is on the table from the Newton Supervisors or those who voice favor for regionalization.

You're right about heads in the sand - its been that way too long and it is time for a change.  No more back room or under the table deals, no more secret contracts without public input.  This township needs to be run the same as any business - and that primarily means fiscal management and that takes analysis, fact finding and ROI determination.  Doing something as important as regionalization because some think it is a good idea doesn't mean it is.  Sal has presented his conclusion backed up with hard numbers, and as I have said before -  if someone can dispute them, then they should present their data so the readers can make an informed comparison and conclusion.

[Floyd]

Again, what does having the SAPD in Newton have to do with regionalization? The posts from Talk Back 16 Are fine, but they have NOTHING to do with the current issue of out sourcing our police department. Yes,we, who paid attention realize there were union issues with the Newton PD. We have Uniion issues with our teachers. Can we control the PSEA and the NEA, no.
Could manage aprt/full time police department? I hope so!
I would like to see Newton and the local townships/communities do a study on the idea of regionalization, such as is taking place in the Mid-Valley area.
Again, the SAPD in Newton is not regionalization.
Floyd

[davidk]

There was a lot of intermuniciple discussion several years ago. The idea never got off the ground.  :shrug:

[davidk]

According to the Ransom Township newsletter thye are getting SA police coverage similar to ours starting May 1.
Looks like they went ahead and copied our expensive contract with little or no cost.

[Sal]

They may have gotten the contract at little or no cost but they are paying thru the nose for police protection.

I got an interesting email from officer Rudat today (a former Newton twp police officer) and I think we may be hearing a little bit form him.  

[foxtrot2]

The SAPD is one of the most admired and respected police departments in the area b/c of Chief Robert Gerrity.  Chief Gerrity is one of the best police chief's in the area, and knows how to run a successful police department.  

First, the police department we call 'Newton Township' is a .  Why you ask, well, how could one (1), yes, that is one officer, call himself a 'chief' when he is the chief of himself?  Second, if he ever had to chase someone out of the vehicle, well, do I need to say more?  Also, I have noticed before SAPD covered the area, 'Chief Reese' always called for back up while on duty, Clarks Summit Police Dept. always came out b/c they are his 'buddies', and last time I checked the map, South Abington Township touches all parts of Newton Township, and also wraps around Clarks Summit.  Now he calls for SAPD on the radio in a disgruntled manner.  Finally, his attitude is not the greatest, and someone should teach him what public realations mean, b/c obviously he never heard of it.  I have heard from multiple people that deal with him told me that he terrible when it comes to talking with emergency service personnel.  


Secondly,  I couldn't recall the last time I have heard a drug arrest in the Newton - Ransom area before SAPD came to town.  Since SAPD came to town, in fact the first night, they had a drug arrest @ N-R Bd @ Airport Dr.  Then just recently, they had a drug arrest in Ransom, yes I do my homework to find these things.  Yes, Reese does his 'routine traffic stops' every now and again to make his employers happy, but in comparison to SAPD, it would be a slow night for them.  SAPD averages about 1 DUI a night, and possibly more.  SAPD has a quicker response time to our area than Clarks Summit b/c SAPD covers out to the State Hospital on a routine basis.  

In closing, I am also happy that Ransom has SAPD running so many hours a week, hopefully 24/7 soon, b/c hopefully the scumbags that hang out on Dark Region Rd and the lower part of Ransom, will go back to NYC,Philadelphia and Scranton so the residents in the area will feel much safer living here.  

Residents, when you come out to vote on May 18th, vote YES for SAPD and the current supervisors who got you SAPD to begin with, and say NO to people who support the officer that has a magnetic attraction to the lazy boy.

Sincerely Newton Resident,

Foxtrot 2


P.S. - If you buy a scanner, you will find the above information, plus a little research, you can find and hear the facts!

[susie]

Hi foxtrot2,  I don't think anyone doubts the integrity of the SAPD.  What I thought was the real issue is the price we are paying for the coverage.  If I got my facts straight (without going back to read other posts LOL), we are paying SAPD $47.00 per hour whereas the township could have hired fully trained part-time police for much less money and get more hours of coverage devoted specifically to our own township. Anyone out there can correct me in I am wrong.

[davidk]

I have no problem with people using this board, or any other venue, to express disatisfaction with public officiasl and or services. However, I do believe that if anyone is going to make such comments they should use a real name to post such.
If you do not put a real name to your comments then I do not give them much, if any, respect.

[Sal]

Well Dave, I agree with you but I do not want anyone to get the misconception that by using their real name that it somehow gives them the right to slander or defame anyone.  That will not be tolerated.  

The intent of allowing people to use an alias is so that people could carry on conversations without being concerned about repercussions.  

What we have here is not a conversation.  These are hit-and-run attacks by nameless people.  

Any moderator can edit or delete posts if in your judgment the post is offensive or if you get complaints.  The poster should be notified and if they keep it up their account is closed.

If it is really bad, don’t bother notifying the poster.  Delete the post and close the account.