Upper Nazareth Township to decide whether to replace late police officer

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Upper Nazareth Township police Chief Alan Siegfried said if supervisors don’t approve the hiring of an additional full-time officer, the force will have to rely more on part-time coverage, which isn’t always available.

The department is down to seven full-time officers, which includes Siegfried and a school resource officer in the Nazareth Area School District, following the death of officer Stephen T. Haberle.


Haberle, 49, died in September after a long battle with skin cancer. The department employs eight part-time officers, many of whom work for other police departments and have other full-time commitments.

The township police department, in operation since 1974 after contracting services with neighboring Nazareth, is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operation.

“Relying on part-time people is like you might have them, you might not,” Siegfried said. “If there’s a situation and a part-time police officer needs to go to work for their full-time job, they’re not going to jeopardize their full-time job. Our part-time cops are valuable, they're just not as dependable as a full-time person.”

Supervisors earlier this month delayed a vote to hire another full-time police officer, a position included in the 2012 municipal budget. Expecting a significant savings, the board wanted information from the chief comparing the cost of a first-year officer with what the township paid for the position last year.


The board, which has had mixed feelings on the hiring, is expected to make a decision during Wednesday's supervisors meeting.

Supervisor James Augustine said watching spending is crucial, noting the 83 percent property tax hike this year. Others want to monitor the township's financial situation throughout the year before hiring for more police coverage.

“In light of the recent tax increase and the possibility of another slow revenue year, I think the board needs to exercise caution in adding the cost of any full-time employee to the township's expenditures,” Augustine said.

Board Vice Chairman Scott Sylvainus said he has yet to make a decision, noting he wants to see the financial paperwork from the chief.

“I think that those numbers would be important to my decision,” Sylvainus said. “It is not the only issue I would look at though. I believe it is also important for stability and continuity to not rely too heavily on part-time officers.”

Supervisors Chairman Mike Rinker, however, said hiring an additional full-time officer is imperative.

“I'm for the full-time position,” he said. “It's always existed. It's just been filled with a part-timer for the past year. No matter what, we are still paying a salary.”

Siegfried said residents had pushed for their own police department in the 1970s because they weren’t satisfied with the coverage provided by Nazareth. Prior to moving to a 24-hour operation, state police often manned overnight shifts.

“You don’t want to go back to those days,” Siegfried said, noting it would take a large decrease in the force to again require state police coverage. “I don’t think it’s in the foreseeable future.”

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2012/02/upper_nazareth_to_decide_wheth.html