SHENANGO TWP. Officials move to join police force

The current municipal members also must approve the decision.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- If all goes as planned, the Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Department will have a new municipal member July 1.
Shenango Township supervisors voted 5-0 Monday to approve an intergovernmental agreement that will have the township become a member of the regional force on that date, provided that the current members -- Farrell, Wheatland and West Middlesex -- agree.
Their approval is expected to be only a formality.
Some township residents had spoken out against linking forces with Southwest Regional, but no opposition was offered by the eight people who attended Monday's meeting.
The township will pay $177,500 for the police service for the last half of this year.
That's half of the full annual $355,000 cost proposed by Southwest Regional. The cost next year is expected to rise to about $375,000.
Southwest will hire Shenango's five full-time officers and take the township's four equipped police cars as well.
Southwest Police Chief Riley Smoot told the supervisors before their vote that the department also will meet with the township's weapons supplier to determine the value of the 10 Glock side arms the township bought for its department last year at $417 each.
A decision will have to be made whether to keep those guns or trade them in on Smith & amp; Wesson side arms like Southwest has, Smoot said.
Increased protection
The township will get increased police protection from Southwest.
Shenango could only keep two cars on the road about 24 hours a week.
Southwest has promised to keep two cars on the road 24 hours a day to patrol the township and West Middlesex borough, which is surrounded by the township.
Supervisor Richard Flack said the decision to end the township police department was a difficult one.
He said he thought the "ideal situation" would have been linking the township with West Middlesex alone, a plan that was under discussion before Shenango decided to ask Southwest for a proposal to provide police services.
"I feel we kind of cheated the borough," Flack said, noting that the township never got back to West Middlesex officials with a proposal to provide the borough with police services.
The talks between Shenango and West Middlesex were part of a larger discussion about the possible total consolidation of both municipalities.
Flack said the township's police chief has indicated that the response time from one side of the township to the other is just too long in an emergency and that was a factor in joining Southwest, which will improve response times with two cars.
The public needs to get the best protection it can for its money, Flack added.