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I thought it was time that I should express my thoughts about the Old Lycoming Township Police Department and regionalization, now that the Old Lycoming Township Police Department no longer exists. I was unable to attend meetings last year to let the township supervisors know my thoughts on regionalization.
When I became the first full-time chief of police for Old Lycoming Township I had ideas on how the department should be operated. I wanted to provide the best service to our community. Before coming to Old Lycoming Township I was an auxiliary police officer for the Williamsport Bureau of Police. I learned a lot working there. I wanted to make sure that our officers had the best training that was available at the time. I told every officer to remember to treat everyone as you would want to be treated. I told them that the residents pay your salary, treat them with respect, and treat everyone you encounter with respect.
I hired officers that had the same dedication to service as I had. It was not about a pay check it was about how we can provide the best service to our residents and businesses. We had many accomplishments -- we were the first department in Lycoming County to buy bullet-resistant vests in 1974. Old Lycoming Township and DuBoistown were the leading departments in establishing county-wide mutual aid. Old Lycoming Township officers were certified instructors for the state's Municipal Police Academy and for the NRA's firearms courses. Old Lycoming Township implemented the multi-department DUI Task Force and central DUI processing center. Old Lycoming and Montoursville departments were leaders in establishing computerized police information systems and helped bring such systems to DuBoistown, Hughesville, Jersey Shore, Muncy and other departments. Old Lycoming Township police developed training programs for Lycoming County Fire Police and trained Lycoming County constables. Old Lycoming Township Police Department was one of the first departments in Lycoming County to have video camera recording in police vehicles. The list goes on.
We could not have done any of it without the dedication of each and every one of our officers. Our guys went through explosions, fires, blizzards, floods, homicides and suicides. No one complained, we just did our jobs serving our residents and community. We were one of the most respected police departments in north-central Pennsylvania.
We did community policing before it was even invented. While on patrol our officers would stop and talk to residents and business owners to see what problems they might be having. We were always looking for ways to solve problems. It was not about arrests or issuing citations it was about solving problems.
Due to health issues I have not been able to attend any of the meetings to express my opinion on regionalization. You may remember back in the late 80s, Williamsport's mayor and police chief came to a township meeting and offered to take over police service in Old Lycoming Township. The Newberry patrol car would cover Old Lycoming Township. At that meeting there were a number of residents who expressed concerns to the supervisors about the lack of service the township would receive. The township supervisors respected the will of the residents and turned the proposal down. Between 1982 and 1994 I and several of my officers had attended training on regionalization and managing small police departments. We had looked at regionalization, but many municipalities were not interested in the process. Instead of regionalization we did a lot of shared services which seemed to work well.
From what I have read in the paper it seems like the board of supervisors have not done their due diligence and research on the process. I am completely baffled at what they have done. It seems to me that they have done a lot of their work on regionalization behind closed doors. They don't seem to have a lot of answers to the questions that residents are asking.
I read in the paper about the Sept. 28 meeting at the fire hall. They did not care what the residents had to say. Why would they limit people to three minutes to ask questions and express their opinions? From what I understand they did not have many answers to the few questions that were asked. This was one of the most important issues facing the township in 40-plus years. The whole thing was an insult to all the residents who wanted to ask questions. They should have let every one there have an opportunity to ask questions and express their opinions even if it took until midnight. They should have had more respect for the residents. They should have listened to everyone then told the audience that the supervisors would not make a decision at this time. They would do some more research and then schedule another public meeting to make their decision known.
The regionalization with Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police Department makes no sense. The two areas are 12 miles apart. The fastest route between them is Route 220 -- at times a very dangerous highway. I really don't understand the rush to approve regionalization. From what I have read and learned it looks like the board of supervisors only relied on one person's information to make the decision to move forward with regionalization.
Before closing, just some points to ponder: The state Department of Community and Economic Development recommends public meetings throughout the entire process. Why were there no opportunities from March to September for the citizens of Old Lycoming Township to hear from the focus committee and for citizens to question the focus committee?
I believe the study was worthless to use as a guide post. Three -- not eight -- municipalities are now full-paying charter members. The square mileage increased from 88 to 216. Under the student, there were common boundaries between the municipalities -- now there are huge gaps. The completion of the study was three years ago.
I am deeply saddened and literally gave my heart to build Old Lycoming Township Police Department and now I'm seeing it dismantled. I hope and pray that regionalization was the right decision. My advice to all residents of Old Lycoming Township is to attend meetings and ask questions.
Salvatore A. Casale was chief of police for Old Lycoming Township from 1971 to 2002.