Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Middletown officials are expected to present information about taking over police services in Penndel during a scheduled borough council meeting Tuesday evening.
The meeting at the Borough Hall at 300 Bellevue Avenue will start at 7:30 p.m. and is expected to be crowded.
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LevittownNow.com broke the story last month that Penndel officials had begun preliminary talks with Middletown about the possibility of entering into a police services agreement. The agreement would see the borough’s 24/7/365 department of 10 part-time officers and a full-time chief disbanded.
More specifics on the potential agreement are expected to be discussed at Tuesday evening’s meeting. In addition, supporters of the borough’s police department are expected to attend the meeting and offer comment about why the town should keep its own police department.
“As the result of a brainstorming session at a recent Borough Finance Committee meeting, Borough officials began preliminary discussions with Middletown Township representatives in regards to a potential intergovernmental agreement for police services,” Kali Sodano, the Penndel Council president, said last month.
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During talks with Middletown officials, the borough realized it could see an “immediate six figure cost savings, plus the added benefit of stabilizing the cost for the length of the agreement,” Sodano said.
Penndel Chief of Police Joseph Sciscio and Penndel Police Benevolent Association President Officer Ray Longhitano both said they were disappointed to hear about the potential closure of the small department.
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Longhitano noted last month that the union passed up two years of raises to settle the last contract. Longhitano said the union understood the borough did not have a lot of money and wanted to do the best for its residents.
“This is happening to 10 people who bend over backwards for the town,” Longhitano said, adding that officers work in Penndel because of the community and not the money.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office is currently looking into allegations by Mayor Robert Winkler that allege the borough council violated the Sunshine Act in their private discussions to contract out police services to Middletown.
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