MONTGOMERY: Township rejects county police consolidation

By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
   MONTGOMERY — The township has joined a growing list of municipalities that have nixed the option to be part of the Somerset County police consolidation plan.
   Mayor Ed Trzaska announced at the July 18 Township Council meeting he would not support Montgomery’s participation in the consolidation and the town would retain its local police force.
   ”Everything with government is about balance — in this circumstance, saving money versus the quality of township services,” said Mayor Trzaska. “The change being proposed by the prosecutor’s office is not the right fit for Montgomery.”
   The proposed consolidation was to combine 19 town police departments and divide them into five precincts with the intent to save money and create a more efficient police agency. The consolidation report projected the county would save about $44 million over 10 years.
   Each municipality has until Aug. 1 to decide whether to join the countywide force.
   Mayor Trzaska acknowledged the consolidation could potentially save the town $170,000, but thought the savings were not worth the risk of locking the town into the initiative’s 10-year commitment with so many questions left unanswered.
   ”Will the consolidated force improve service? Hurt service? Or maintain the same level of service? I don’t know,” he said. “Nobody really knows. Personally I cannot take the risk of negatively impacting Montgomery’s public safety operations.”
   Resident Walt Beadling praised the committee’s decision to keep the town’s local police department.
   ”Keeping control of law enforcement on a local level is the most sensible thing to do,” said Mr. Beadling. “I’d like to commend the committee on its position.”
   For towns that choose to pass on the countywide police force idea, the Citizen’s Advisory Committee recommended looking into sharing types of police services with one or two neighboring municipalities. These shared services could include general training, firearms training, juvenile bureau, detective’s bureau and software purchasing.
   Mayor Trzaska said the committee’s advice was something they would review in the future and that the possibility of sharing services with Hillsborough was definitely an alternative worth looking at.
   ”We will take little steps to see if our cultures work or our philosophy of sharing works before we put all our chips in,” he said.