Nazareth mayor blasts 'bickering' top cop

FROM THE MORNING CALL

At times, you had to wonder when chairs were going to be thrown.

As Nazareth prepares to dissolve its police department and contract with a regional force, Mayor Fred Daugherty lambasted police Chief Thomas Trachta on Monday night, calling him an ineffective manager who plays his officers against council.

Taking charge of a police committee meeting that got hotter the longer it went on, the mayor complained about police overtime for part-timers, saying he wants Trachta to keep the officers to their allotted hours. And when the chief protested, saying that would leave him with holes in his coverage, the meeting blew up.

"That's why you have no control over your department, because you refuse to manage your people," Daugherty said, almost shouting. "You're constantly bickering — you play the part of the officers against the bosses."
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Citing out-of-control costs, Borough Council voted unanimously June 6 to disband the police department and seek a contract with the Colonial Regional Police Department, which covers Bath, Chapman and Hanover and Lower Nazareth townships.

It's left the fate of the borough's three full-time officers in question, as Colonial Regional has already said it has no plans to hire them.

Trachta came to council looking for answers on the upcoming regionalization and approval to hire two part-time officers, who he said are badly needed to bolster the department while council sorts out a contract. He got neither, with councilmen telling him negotiations with Colonial Regional haven't begun and he'll have to wait until the entire council is present to make his pitch for new hires.

Officers in the department have hit the streets looking for other work since the council's vote, with part-timers picking up other shifts and a full-time officer signing on with another municipality. With the torrent of workable hours leaking from his police station, Trachta doesn't think he'll be able to provide 24-hour coverage without overtime.

That's fine, Daugherty said: Take help from the state police, the patroller of last resort, which to many departments is the equivalent of throwing in the towel.

"It's a black eye on me," he said. "But you have to stand up."

Nazareth's police union has hinted it may file a lawsuit, and Trachta says he's mystified at council's statement that the police budget has ballooned under his tenure.

As Trachta pressed the regionalization issue — who's going to collect the equipment when Colonial Regional takes over? What should he tell his officers? — the conversation quickly grew terse, sending fists banging and voices straining.

"If you're spending your days counseling your police officers, you're never going to get anything done," Daugherty said. "Your job is to manage the police department. Period."

Trachta said later, "I was never involved in a police department that could get disbanded."