Contracting police service is not a solution

Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my view on the proposed contracting of police services between Franklin and Mahoning townships and Lehighton Borough. I have been a lifelong resident of the Lehighton area, and I am a homeowner and taxpayer in Mahoning, as well as a former employee of Mahoning Township, having served over six years.

I find it troubling that the boards of both townships seem to have such a low opinion of every single one of their police officers, employees the boards themselves selected and hired. I submit that if you are an employer, responsible to train and develop your employees, and you consider every one of your employees a failure, it is YOU who has failed.

The responsible way to share police services is to regionalize, which gives current officers a fair chance to keep their jobs, feed their families, and save their hard-earned pensions, and gives all the citizens a voice in how their police department operates. As a resident of Mahoning, I don't want decisions about the police department that protects my family being made by Lehighton Borough Council and their mayor, as their first priority, and rightfully so, is Lehighton Borough. I also wonder how you can eliminate roughly half the officers in the region yet still provide better coverage for a combined area of over 40 square miles.

As I don't want to criticize without offering a solution, I propose that the boards of supervisors of Mahoning and Franklin be "disbanded," their municipal offices eliminated and the townships merged with Lehighton.

Respectfully,

Christopher Ritter

Mahoning Township