EXCLUSIVE: Officials Working to Fix Bristol Twp. Police Manpower Issues, Keep Up Drug Investigations

The manpower issues at the Bristol Township Police Department have received the attention of state officials.

Officials from Bristol Township, Bucks County and representatives from Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s office met Monday at a meeting organized by State Representative Tina Davis, according to statements from those in attendance. The meeting was reported to be productive and discussed ways township police could work with state officials on increased drug enforcement.

The meeting came just days after the Bristol Township Police Department disbanded their two-officer narcotics units. Acting Chief of Police Lt. John Godzieba confirmed the unit was disbanded and said the two officers are now working the streets.  The acting chief added the officers are working some drug investigations part-time for now, but the detective unit is handling all new drug investigations.

One of the topics of the meeting involved giving Bristol Township investigators access to the attorney general office’s intelligence unit, which is headed by former Bristol Township officer Avril Eklund, Godzieba said.

No formal agreements were signed but the meeting provided good networking between the officials.

“This was an information meeting on how the attorney general offers help in narcotics investigations,” Gobzieba said.

In recent years, residents have grown concerned as the police department’s staffing numbers have shrunk and the perception is that drug-related crime has grown.

The department currently has between 55 and 60 sworn officers but used to have at least a dozen more officers.

Township Manager Bill McCauley told LevittownNow.com recently that due to the lack available funds hiring new officers for the department hasn’t come as of yet.

The township manager said since the department won its arbitration case with the township,which included across the board raises and no health insurance contributions, the township doesn’t have the money to hire more cops. McCauley said the fact is the township is now operating with a $80 million dollar unfunded debt, which he blamed on employee costs.

Law enforcement sources disagreed with McCauley’s explanation and said: “We tried to negotiate with him and he wanted no part of it at all, so we had to bring in a labor arbitrator.  The union was more than willing to work with the township on a deal.”

Members of the public that LevittownNow.com has talked to simply don’t care the who, what, why and how – they just want more cops on the street.

Sgt. Sean Cosgrove, who is vice president of the police union, Monday afternoon said he had no comment on whether a meeting was taking place adding that’s an operations issue and the questions is more appropriate for the Godzieba to answer.

Cosgrove, however, was willing to weigh in on the township’s view as to why there have  been no additional hiring and more specifically about the the arbitration agreement in which the department was awarded everything it wanted, as McCauley has stated in the past.

“We tried to negotiate with him (McCauley) but he never responded.  We wound up going to an arbitrator not because we wanted to, but we had to since he was unwilling to negotiate,” Cosgrove said.

“Anything they (council and McCauley) say about the contract and arbitration is a lie,” the union vice president added.

The issue of staffing for the department is nothing new for the Bristol Township Police Department.

Several years ago, the township laid off police officers to help reel in its finances. Subsequently, two of those officers were recalled but one of the pink slipped officers, Sean Lyons, ended up not rejoining the force. Lyons revealed that he felt McCauley lied to him.

A short time later, two officers resigned quietly after LevittownNow.com revealed they were caught having relations in the back of patrol car while one of the officers, if not both, were on duty.

In the months since, several other officers have resigned or retired. Most recently, an officer resigned to start a business.

Former Chief James McAndrews officially retired as of July 1, Godzeiba confirmed about two weeks ago.

Since November 2013, there have been six homicides in Bristol Township. One official, who did not wish to be identified, said most of the deaths would likely not have been prevent no matter what police staff levels were.

According to those with knowledge of the meeting, Davis has been asking the attorney general’s office for some kind of or assistance in the township for months now.

“The shootings in Winder Village grabbed everyone’s attention,” one source said.

Late Monday night, Davis again refused to comment about the meeting that was held earlier in the day. Her frustration, however, was palpable with respect to the being questioned as with each no comment, she sounded increasingly angered.

The township is expected to use grant money to install more surveillance camera’s in the township. An existing system installed in the Bloomsdale-Fleetwing section are not constantly monitored but have been used to solve crimes. Police in 2012 said that system lead to a 50 percent drop in crime in the neighborhood. The system is one way police can keep an eye on a portion of the township without have a large police presence.

The police department has worked on the past year to put more officers on the street without bringing more officers on the force. Several months ago, two officers were brought back from regional task forces and placed back on street duty.

McCauley, in response to repeated attempts to obtain comment, said Tuesday morning: “This was Mrs. Davis’ party. You need to ask her.”