West Manchester, police officers against regionalization

As West Manchester Township and its police officers negotiate a new contract, both sides say the final agreement should include a clause preventing the department from joining a regional force.

[Bill]

Well at least that is one smart township and police department not to get involved with a regional police depart with York City involved in it. The only place that would benefit would be York City because then all of their back police pension payments would be made by the people that don't live in the city.
I am all for a regional police department as long as York City is not involved in it. They have the most corrupt and have way too many dead weight officers that don’t do crap. Their leaders are jokes as well just look at the brain-dead Commissioner Witless his head is so far up the mayor’s A$$ he and doesn’t even know it.

[doverwmt]

Good for West Manchester, they know what would happen if the city of York becomes part of a regional group. Watch who's taxes will go up.

[Reality Check]

This is one department that has it right, the YorkCounts scheme is a complete farce at best.

If you really take the time and look at this scheme top to bottom, you can plainly see that it will ultimately cost the taxpayers MORE money and give them LESS police coverage. Ask the people of Red Lion, who now have much slower response times after abandoning their police force.

Regionalization may seem to save a few bucks, but the long-term ramifications are detrimental to residents in EVERY place that has it now.

Public safety is a NON-NEGOTIABLE item in society.

[Brenners Swamp]

If West Manchester PD gets absorbed and led by Commissioner Wit-less their citizens will be absolutely help-less.

[supervoter]

Great decision!

[I am smart]

Colonel Chronister is going to be mad when he hears about this. Alas the sheriff's office will now have to continue to act outside their scope of duties.

[Jeff]

York County should have 1 police force, 1 school system, & 1 county wide government. So much money is wasted w/ each area or region having their own police, school district, & government. Such a waste of money for a county with over 400,000 people living in it.

[In The Know]

Here's one township and township police department that realizes the York Counts scheme for regionalization is in reality the York City Police bailout plan.

Regionalization=higher salaries and bailing out the York City police pension debt.

York Counts in all its efforts is also a liberal scheme to make government bigger and more powerful at the local level.

[And The Truth Is]

Jeff wrote:

York County should have 1 police force, 1 school system, & 1 county wide government. So much money is wasted w/ each area or region having their own police, school district, & government. Such a waste of money for a county with over 400,000 people living in it.

Which salary scale for teachers will prevail in York County as one school district?

Will it be the school districts where salaries start in the mid-30's or the one where salaries start in the mid-40's?

Will it be the school district pay scale where custodians start at 8 dollars a hour or the one where custodians pay starts at 12.50 an hour?

Consolidation is a scheme to jack up salaries which represent the major cost item in school budgets.

Bureaucracies in consolidated government are not reduced?

They are only bigger and better paid.

Don't fall for the lie of government consolidation "saving money."

[Open minded]

Looks like West Manchester Township wants to take their ball and go home. Babies. Regionalization is the best way to go. It would actually save their tax payers more. To denounce the York Counts study before it is even released is showing how close minded they are. Open your eyes, small departments are inneficident and do not provide the resources that a regional police department can.

Think of this...lets say that a specific place in West Manchester Township had a problem with speeders or drug activity. With a regional force, you could have a special detail run with 5 or more officers to work the problem. As it stands, 5 officers might be more that they have working during the shift.

Regionalization lets you do more and give you much more manpower to handle problems. To say that they would be paying for other department's problems is snobbish and shows they have a lack of understanding of the benefits of regionalization.

And to say they want nothing to do with the city? Yet they sit on the city line stopping everything they can going into the city so they can make their big arrests. If you don't want anything to do with joining other departments then stay in your township and deal with your township. Otherwise you're sending mixed messages.

[Concerned Citizen 1]

Who is Dan Fink (Communications Director) and why is his opinion included in this article?

[numbers guy]

Congratulations West Manchester Twp. Board of Supervisors, Township Manager and the Township Police Dept. for this decision to eliminate any attempt to put the township in a regional police dept.

York Counts presents another white paper report with what results? Wait and see, it will be a waste of paper and ink.

[Bill]

Just remember Mitrikk and her flunky Kilgore are on the board of York Counts and are just trying to push their ideas down our throats again.

[Happy to live in WMT]

Yea WMT! I am totally against regionalization. I previously lived in Dover township where I never saw a police officer drive down my community street.....never. I only saw them when they were on the Davidsburg Road or Carlisle Road with someone pulled over for a violation of some sort or an unfortunate accident.

I love living in a community where I see a police officer drive through my community and make his presence known. Where our children get to know this folks from driving by, educational programs at our schools and then, at the high school and middle school level, seeing them patroling an activity.

Thank-you WMT!

[The Joker]

Great news for West Manchester residents. All this York Metro Regional Police Dept. will do is bailout York City and all there problems. It helps no one else.

Regional Police and Fire only work (1)when they are set up correctly from the start and (2) for the right reasons. Neither are the case if you involve York City.

[deep]

I am smart wrote:

Colonel Chronister is going to be mad when he hears about this. Alas the sheriff's office will now have to continue to act outside their scope of duties.

is it true the sheriff's dept. can enforce criminal laws, vehicle laws and the civil laws of pa. and police officers can only enforce criminal and vehicle laws.

[In The Know]

Open minded wrote:

Looks like West Manchester Township wants to take their ball and go home. Babies. Regionalization is the best way to go. It would actually save their tax payers more. To denounce the York Counts study before it is even released is showing how close minded they are. Open your eyes, small departments are inneficident and do not provide the resources that a regional police department can.
Think of this...lets say that a specific place in West Manchester Township had a problem with speeders or drug activity. With a regional force, you could have a special detail run with 5 or more officers to work the problem. As it stands, 5 officers might be more that they have working during the shift.
Regionalization lets you do more and give you much more manpower to handle problems. To say that they would be paying for other department's problems is snobbish and shows they have a lack of understanding of the benefits of regionalization.
And to say they want nothing to do with the city? Yet they sit on the city line stopping everything they can going into the city so they can make their big arrests. If you don't want anything to do with joining other departments then stay in your township and deal with your township. Otherwise you're sending mixed messages.

Open minded says it all.

I saw the name Steve Hovis in this, that's a liberal Democrat name, too.

All the liberals in this town including Tom Donley of the Chamber of Commerce, Tom Wolf, Art Glatfelter, Louis Appell etc. love this consolidation stuff.

Cost savings is not going to be accomplished when pay scales are higher in one area than the other, the pension system is messed up in debt in one area but not others, etc.

This York Counts consolidation is as much a boondoggle and pipe dream as the new Central York "Taj Mahal" High School and the new Dallastown "Intermediate School" that suck tens of millions out of taxpayers pockets.

[Leroy jenkins]

deep wrote:

<quoted text>
is it true the sheriff's dept. can enforce criminal laws, vehicle laws and the civil laws of pa. and police officers can only enforce criminal and vehicle laws.

Not entirely

[manny]

Jeff wrote:

York County should have 1 police force, 1 school system, & 1 county wide government. So much money is wasted w/ each area or region having their own police, school district, & government. Such a waste of money for a county with over 400,000 people living in it.

you must be from maryland.

[Computer Steve]

York City is a tick and the County is full of deer.

Regionalization allows that tick to suck from all the surrounding deer, not just those foolish enough to cross its path.