Penndel Borough Votes Not To Outsource Police Services To Middletown

Penndel Borough will not outsource its police department to neighboring Middletown Township.

The decision was finally reached after a lengthy council meeting that begin Tuesday evening and lasted into the early minutes of Wednesday morning.

After an initial motion to cancel the talks altogether was not approved, residents stood at the podium to address council for another half hour, before Council Vice President Gian LoPiccolo seemingly had a change of heart during a second motion and agreed to disprove the police agreement with Middletown. Residents, some of whom had listened in from outside through the windows of the borough hall, cheered in favor of LoPiccolo’s decision – some even approached him at the council desk before the votes were all taken to shake his hand.

Council President Kali Sodano, and council members Rich Flanagan and Karen Flowers disapproved of the motion.

Long-standing council member Barbara Heffelfinger initiated a second motion shortly after talks were disbanded that negotiations with the police chief must begin immediately and that it is of no singular person’s authority to remove well-liked Chief of Police Joseph Sciscio from his post. That motion carried over unanimously before the meeting was adjourned.

Sciscio had remarked earlier in the evening that he was “overwhelmed” by the abundance of support at the meeting from Penndel residents.

Sodano noted Tuesday night that talks began in July during a finance committee meeting and quickly grew to a potential agreement with Middletown Township to take over the borough’s police services for more than 2,000 residents.

Lo Piccolo noted during finance discussions that the borough had the potential to save $2 million over the course of the 10 year proposed agreement by handing over patrols to the surrounding township. Sodano noted that the borough, which is about .5 square miles in size, is already surrounded by one patrol division of Middletown’s department and with the agreement, would have been assimilated into the division without the need for extra officers.

According to stats given by Lo Piccolo, the current cost for the borough’s department this year was $488,000 and have gone up steadily about nine percent year over year. The arrangement with Middletown would have initially cost the borough around $380,000 annually, with steady increases of a little over four percent each year for the length of the agreement. Each party, if they would have agreed to the proposal, would have had to give the other party two years notice if they wanted to leave the contract.

“This isn’t where Wrightstown is being absorbed, we’re not farms,” said Sciscio. “This is a situation where having your own police department benefits you well.”

Sciscio went on to applaud the department and its officers, all of which were in attendance at the meeting. Sciscio championed the department’s use of body cameras, life saving efforts with the use of Narcan, and his efforts working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tracking down child predators. He noted that he has been consistently under budget year over year and that while the department accounts for almost half of the borough’s budget, it should. He alleged that Middletown spends 69 percent of their budget on their police force, compared with Penndel’s 44 percent.

Sciscio insisted to both council and the residents that Middletown’s six officers on duty at one time would stretch them far too thin to also be responsible for dealing with crime and keeping neighbors safe in the small borough. “I’ve invested my career in Penndel and I think Penndel deserves better,” he said.

Even retired chief Steve Burke told the council that disbanding the Penndel department was “professionally a bad idea” and that he would hate for the situation to go “awry”.

After the borough’s presentation, residents lined up for more than two hours to largely voice their support for the police department and against the proposal to hand over services to Middletown.

While Sodano initially tried to table the discussion until the council’s work session meeting scheduled for September 19, the audience was in uproar over the idea, claiming that the council’s job was to support the residents and act on their behalf.

“We are your boss,” shouted one resident. “Are you really going to change your mind after hearing everything you heard tonight?” asked another.

All in all, Lo Piccolo did have a change of heart, saying that while things will come up that may be “uncomfortable to talk about” and stir up a lot of emotion among residents, its his job to talk about them. “All I’m saying is don’t bash me for doing my job,” said Lo Piccolo about his interest in looking at a potential police services agreement with Middletown.

Tuesday evening’s meeting packed the tiny Borough Hall on Bellevue Avenue and had a large group of residents standing near the windows trying to hear the council’s decision.

Penndel Borough Council meets the first and third Monday of every month.

The council mtg in Penndel is expected to begin shortly. Locals are still piling in. pic.twitter.com/m8lKb6wRhR

— Amanda Burg (@amandaMburg) September 6, 2016

Penndel mayor has thanked the public for their support and borough police for their dedication despite talks of disbanding the police dept.

— Amanda Burg (@amandaMburg) September 6, 2016

Mayor has said the agreement would put Penndel at the mercy of the neighboring municipality.

— Amanda Burg (@amandaMburg) September 6, 2016

Lo Piccolo says that providing police services is usually the most expensive thing that a municipality pays for, between 40 and 60%.

— Amanda Burg (@amandaMburg) September 7, 2016

Middletown officers have 4 square miles to cover individually, Penndel cops are always at maximum .5 square miles away from any call.

— Amanda Burg (@amandaMburg) September 7, 2016

“They don’t run this town, we run this town,” said Heffelfinger.

— Amanda Burg (@amandaMburg) September 7, 2016

Pres. Kali Sodano said she asked the chief of Middletown not to come to the meeting to be professional and not force chiefs to butt heads.

— Amanda Burg (@amandaMburg) September 7, 2016

A second vote to cancel all talks of outsourcing the police department has been approved, thanks to a change of heart by Gian Lo Piccolo.

— Amanda Burg (@amandaMburg) September 7, 2016