A Recall to Nowhere for a Laid Off Bristol Township Cop

Shawn Lyons was somewhat hopeful Monday morning he would at least get some answers  from someone about  his recall back to work as a Bristol Township police officer.

His answer came in form of the question from the department’s chief of police; “what are you doing here?,” Lyons said.

Suffice to say, Lyons and his  brother officer, Kevin Jackson,  have yet to put back on their gear so they could  “serve and protect” as officers seek to do in their capacity of guardians of, and for  public safety.  The callback of the two officers announced by in a May press release by the Township Manager Bill McCauley pointed out the unexpected financial health as the reasoning for the  recall.

Lyons sense of frustration was apparent speaking with him on the phone later that day. For the first time publicly, he told the Courier Times he left a job to come back to the police department when it was announced he was one of two officers to be coming back as of July 1.

“Once that announcement was made, my new employer didn’t see the reason to invest any more training for me and I was let go, with the full understanding I would be returning to the department,” Lyons said.

Now with no job, his future  up in the air and looming “mortgage payments” among a host of other bills people pay daily, Lyons sense that the recall announcement was simply political gamesmanship has grown ever more.

“Were being used like pawns, ” Lyons said. “It’s not fair to us, our families and certainly not the public.”

Asked about the statement released by the police union president and police detective Tim Fuhrmann, Lyons said he heard about it, but had not heard from the union directly or at all up until that point Monday evening.

“The Bristol Township Council has toyed with peoples’ lives,”  Fuhrmann said. “One of the furloughed Officers was ‘let go’ by his current employer due to the press release of the officer’s imminent return to Police duty. His employer did not want to invest any more time and training for an employee that was going to be returning to a Police career. That furloughed Officer is now un-employed yet again, due to Bristol Township’s neglect in having him return to duty. Another Officer reported for duty today (July 1, 2013) pursuant to the press release, and was turned away.”

“It is a shame that the Bristol Township Council has such little regard for the safety of residents,” the statement went on.  “As the summer approaches and the heat rises, so do calls for police services; it’s an all hands on deck scenario, when the more Police Officers working, the safer the community.” The Bristol Township Police Benevolent Association fully hopes that the Bristol Township Council stop claiming they don’t know what’s going on, and reconsider bringing back all the furloughed Police Officers.

McCauley and Councilman Craig Bowen have both denied accusations the announcement was a  political ploy.

McCauley has repeatedly stated in recent days he is awaiting  the official binding arbitration award between the township and the Bristol Township Police Benevolent Association, offering that’s the most prudent approach for the township to take in order to know what the agreement will contain so he could”cost it out.”

“We fully intend to bring the officers back,” McCauley said late last week.

Bowen last week, said  we don’t want to bring these guys back and then send them home again. Its been done before, and that’s not the path we want to take.

And what of public?

Day after day, reading  postings or comments , for example,  on social media by the Croydon Town Watch or the Goldenridge Town Watch one thing that is consistently clear;  The need for more cops on the streets in Bristol. Both watch groups report on crime in their respective areas in an attempt to inform the public and at times assist police officials with respect to potential criminal activity in their respective areas of the township.  The overall feeling is give us more cops, yet that doesn’t seem to be coming any time soon.

Lyons,  is sickened by all of it, and is left in an administrative purgatory of sorts.

I love being officer, he said, and I fully intend to continue a carer doing what I love.  But the writing is on the wall.  I don’t see myself coming back as a Bristol Township cop, he said.

Lyons said he’s applied to several other police departments and hopes hell be hired  soon.

Till then…he’s been  re-called to no where.

Attempts to reach Bristol Township Council President Bob Lewis were unsuccessful for this article.