North Lebanon Township weighs the pros and cons of regionalized police department

Ed Brensinger, chairman of the North Lebanon Township Board of Supervisors, announced, at the beginning of the August monthly meeting that he and fellow supervisors Ardy Snook and Gary Heisey visited the Northern York Regional Police Department and the Northern Lancaster Regional Police Department recently to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of municipalities regionalizing their police departments.

Later in the meeting, township resident Rick Blauch asked if the supervisors had an opinion on the whether the township should consider having its police force be a part of a regional force.

Snook said the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) is pushing for municipal police departments to regionalize. It did a free study for the township and recommended a merger of the North Lebanon and North Cornwall police departments.

"If set up right and with the right people in charge it should work well and save money," said Snook. "North Cornwall Township and North Lebanon Township would be a match made in heaven. The chief will tell you that we can't hire cops. What scares me is guys working alone. Crime is changing in this country."

Brensinger explained that if a regional police force is created a separate Board of Commissioners would be set up to oversee the police, just as municipal authorities are created to oversee water departments or sewer departments.

"DCED thinks it's a good idea," he said "but I want to hear from the folks who live in the township, the people who helped to build what we have here. If a commission is created for a regional police force the board of supervisors no longer have control over it. Now, if someone has an issue regarding police coverage, they come to us and we try to react to that issue. I'm not ready to move forward on this. I can tell you that. It's a big decision. ... I think the residents truly appreciate the police department. The people who commit the crimes may not appreciate them, but those who obey the laws appreciate our police."

Supervisor Gary Heisey agreed that the residents of the township should be involved with the decision. He said the involvement could be in the form of public meetings or as a referendum on an election ballot, but he said he believes that many of the people who vote for referendum questions do not have knowledge of the issue.

Chief: regional force would have advantages

Blauch asked if Chief of Police Tim Knight would favor a regional force.

Knight said he believes a combined force would provide greater police coverage and faster response times. He said that if one officer is on a shift and is investigating an incident, that officer may not be available for two hours if another incident occurs.

"Dispatch can call an officer from another township, such as South Lebanon Township or the city, for that second incident, but that officer cannot make an arrest, he can only hold the suspect until the North Lebanon officer is free to go to the scene," he explained.

He said the combined forces of North Lebanon and North Cornwall would create, if fully staffed, a force of 24 officers, and during most times there would be officers assigned to zones, which would result in faster response times and more than one officer available to respond to a call. He believes the township would benefit from a regionalized force.

Knight said it has been a challenge for North Lebanon to find candidates for vacancies in the department. "It is difficult to pull people into Lebanon County if they are not already here," he said. He noted that the Northern Lancaster Regional Force, created in 2012, recently had 38 applicants. He said North Lebanon is currently paying the cost for two men to attend the police academy with the assumption they will join the force.

Snook said it takes "a lot of legwork" to merge two police departments and added that Palmyra and Annville had discussions for a year before they joined their departments.

Knight's monthly report of incidents investigated by the NLPD included a strong-arm robbery, an assault, 35 thefts, 10 incidents of disorderly conduct, 19 domestic situations, shots fired along Kimmerlings Road, and 28 criminal arrests, among the total of 367 calls.

Other business

• Also at the meeting, the supervisors agreed to lease the teener baseball field and concession stands along Long Lane to the New Covenant Christian School. Gary Heisey said this agreement benefits the school by giving it more areas for athletics and it benefits the township by freeing the maintenance department from having to maintain the fields.

• A public hearing was held prior to the hearing for miscellaneous changes to township ordinances including those related to parking and the placement of stop signs and speed limit signs on new streets to be turned over to the township. It also amends the definition of disorderly conduct to include anyone who violates Section 1101 of Pennsylvania Act 74 of 2022 that defines and lists restrictions on the use of display and consumer fireworks. The changes were approved.

• The board gave the OK for township recycling coordinator, Bonnie Grumbine to apply for an estimated 2022 Recycling Performance Grant of $24,595. Township manager Lori Books said the amount of residential recycling dropped in 2022 but commercial recycling tonnage increased due, in part, to the Walmart warehouse.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: North Lebanon Twp. Pa. weighs pros and cons of regionalized police