Walker Township addresses potential police agreement

Walker Township has shed more light on a potential police agreement with a neighboring municipality.

Township supervisors on Thursday said they are considering a motion to combine police forces with West Penn Township to ensure a constant police presence.

However, the board said no decision has been made official as of yet, adding that the consideration to combine police forces is due to the coverage that West Penn could offer Walker.

Currently, Walker receives about 20 hours of police coverage per week, the board said.

Teaming with West Penn would mean police could respond to emergencies at all hours of the day, as enforcement officers would be placed throughout the town for quicker arrival time.

Board Chairwoman Christine Troxell said she’s in favor of the proposed agreement.

“I’ve had run-ins myself with people in my backyard, which is why I want 24/7 coverage just as much as anyone,” Troxell said.

County residents claimed to hear of proposals for the plan already being signed, and hours within Walker Township police force limited; however, the board denied both accusations.

“In an initial meeting with the townships, we simply toured the police facilities,” Troxell said. “If we went through with the plan, we would still need to work out the numbers, get explanations, and agree on a length of term.”

As for the police officer’s hours, the board said that more hours have been offered, but no one signs up for them.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there,” said Supervisor Bill McMullen. “Some of these concerns come from people who weren’t even here in past meetings to hear it for themselves.”

“Sometimes people even confuse myself and William N. McMullen,” he said.

The board said it wants the best for the public, adding there is still a lot of research to be done before arriving at a decision.

“The state encourages intermunicipality police work,” Troxell said. “In fact, if this plan works, we may qualify for a grant. But we would need to apply and be accepted.”

Officials from both townships met last month at the West Penn Township municipal building to discuss the possibility.

West Penn board Chairman Tony Prudenti said the purpose of that meeting was to discuss the possibility of West Penn taking over the Walker Township police department.

Walker Supervisor Craig Wagner said at that time that Walker would be willing to put $20,000 in its budget in return for 20 hours of police coverage per week from West Penn.

However, West Penn police Chief Brian Johnson said his department would allow 10 hours of patrol and any calls, adding that any calls his department would respond to would come off the 10 hours, and they would respond 24/7.

Further, Johnson said at that time that police would respond to any calls it would receive from Walker.

Since 10 hours per week would equate to 520 hours per year, West Penn Supervisors Ted Bogosh said that once West Penn police would reach the 520-hour threshold for providing coverage to Walker, state police would then be responsible for coverage of Walker.

Troxell said at that time Walker felt it was a crossroads, adding that 20 hours a week was the average for the township’s officers.

Prudenti noted at that time that if approved, the agreement would be “on a temporary, one-year basis to see if it works for you guys and if it works for us.”

Bogosh clarified that it would be a shared police department, and not a regional police department.

It was noted that Walker’s police department currently consists of one officer in charge.

While West Penn has 129 miles of paved roads in its township, Walker has about 19 miles of paved roads in its community.

Walker Township solicitor Chris Reidlinger said that if a deal was struck between both municipalities, there would have to be a written agreement that would have to be adopted by both municipalities by way of an ordinance.

Prudenti said that while 10 hours per week may not sound like much, Walker has to take into account the small size of its municipality.

Additionally, Prudenti said West Penn would want Walker to give police the go-ahead to go into the middle school during school hours.

West Penn Supervisor Tim Houser said that if agreed upon, the agreement would go into effect in 2020.