Pennsauken police resist idea of county-run force

Nearly 150 people - many of them Pennsauken police officers and their families - packed into a Township Committee meeting Wednesday to oppose a proposal for a county-run police force to replace Pennsauken's department, saying the possibility has stirred fear among residents.

"We are panicked about this," Lysa Longo, 57, a longtime resident who works for the Pennsauken Police Department's traffic unit, told Mayor Rick Taylor and other committee members. "We really are."

The concerns came two days after Pennsauken police received a report that criticized the department's effectiveness and suggested the township would save more than $30 million over six years by switching to a Camden County-run police force.

The report, which the county paid a law enforcement consultant $36,100 to produce, was slammed by Pennsauken Police Chief John J. Coffey.

"There were so many things wrong with that report," Coffey told the committee Wednesday. Among them, he said outside the meeting: that police spend an average of 45 minutes on burglar-alarm calls. Coffey said such calls often take closer to 10 minutes.

Camden County has sought to expand its police force, which patrols only the city of Camden, into neighboring towns such as Pennsauken. The idea of a county-run force stirred similar resistance from some officers in Camden's city police department before it was disbanded in May 2013.

Taylor has stressed that the township has a "fiduciary responsibility" to review the county's proposal but is nowhere near making a decision.

His statement Wednesday, however, that forming a new police department would not be put to a public vote stirred outrage from some in the crowd.

"It's very disheartening to the residents of this town," Barbara Nardi Hertline, 35, the wife of a Pennsauken police officer, told Taylor.

"Nothing like this ever comes to a vote," Taylor said, comparing it to trying to put a tax hike up for vote. Taylor said there would be town-hall meetings to address the issue.

Committee member Jack Killion, whose son is a Pennsauken police officer, said that if the outpouring of opposition is anything like Wednesday's, "I don't think this committee is going to vote for it."

His son, Michael, spoke against the Camden County Metro force: "Have a little pride in our police department and send Metro back down to Camden."

The size of the crowd inside the room, where many stood against the walls, created a hot, sticky environment that fit the tone of residents' frustrations.

"I just think this is a bad idea," Coffey told the committee. "And I think you do, too."

Before the meeting began, Coffey said he had written a letter to Jose Cordero, the consultant who wrote the report on Pennsauken's department, asking Cordero to meet with him.

Coffey and other Pennsauken police officials raised concerns this week that Cordero did not speak with them or visit the department for his report. (Cordero, in an interview Tuesday, said he would "absolutely" speak to officers if the county continued to ask for his services.)

Coffey said he had also tried to obtain the report from Camden County through two public-records requests. Both times, he said, he was denied.

The report estimated that, under a county-run force, the cost of sworn personnel over the next six years in Pennsauken would be $51 million to $57 million. If the township's current force remains, the report estimated, sworn personnel could cost $86 million in that time period.

If the new force took over, township officers would have to apply for jobs with the county and potentially face pay cuts. A comparison of the township's pay scale with that of Camden's shows Pennsauken officers could make $7,000 to $34,000 less than they do now, depending on tenure.

Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen said Wednesday that county officials "respect the elected leadership for doing their due diligence on the issue and continuing to digest the proposal. We look forward to further dialogue with them on this policy matter in the coming months."

Pennsauken detective and union president Matthew Henkel urged the mayor and committee to make a decision quickly. The talks with the county, he said, are hanging over officers' heads.

"It's stressful," he said. "Not knowing is wearing on the guys."