North Cornwall Township unanimously adopts regional police bylaw

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The North Cornwall Town Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the adoption of the inter-municipal charter for a regional police force on Tuesday.

If the charter is also adopted by North Lebanon Township, the townships will further refine the details of regionalization and take steps toward forming a regional police commission to oversee the new department.

“(This charter is) the result of a little over a year of meetings between North Lebanon Township and North Cornwall Township,” said Chairman Mike Wahmann. “We believe this is the right path to take to shape the future of policing in North Cornwall Township and for North Lebanon Township.”

All supervisors expressed support for the plan, citing officer and public safety, improved investigative capabilities, and more promotion opportunities for officers.

“So far, our police department’s experience (with regionalization) has been positive,” said Sergeant Paul Savini, echoing the benefits touted by his superiors. “These are all benefits our guys are looking forward to.”

Supervisor Ronald Sell noted that the township has had extraordinary difficulty finding officers, at one point being short seven officers. Regional departments, he said, have had an easier time finding recruits, in part because of the opportunities for advancement.

Employment lawyer Michael Miller, who reviewed the charter with North Cornwall, called it “extraordinarily thorough” and expressed support for the plan.

“The reality is that public safety is an important service, but it’s also the most expensive service a community provides,” Miller said, going on to explain how much policing has changed in his roughly 30 years of working with various communities. “The ability to spread the costs across more taxpayers would be beneficial to both communities and, frankly, to Lebanon County.”

In case you missed it … Background to this story

In late 2023, the communities of North Cornwall and North Lebanon began informal discussions about merging their respective police departments.

The goal of this regionalization, said the North Lebanon police chief, is to increase the safety of officers who occasionally have to work alone.

A regionalisation study by the police had shown that the townships with comparable population numbers of 8,511 (NCT) and 12,041 (NLT) were suitable for regionalisation.

When regionalisation talks began, North Cornwall had 11 officers and North Lebanon had 10, although the budget called for 12. It was assumed that a regional force would comprise 24 officers.

In September 2023, North Lebanon hosted an information meeting to present details of the possible regionalization to residents and to decide whether to proceed.

Read more: North Lebanon Township Board of Supervisors Considers Regional Police with N. Cornwall

The following month, the municipalities formed a Regional Police Development Committee, composed of supervisors from both municipalities’ municipal councils, their police chiefs and their municipal managers. This committee was tasked with developing and reviewing a charter for a future regionalized police force.

Read more: N. Lebanon Township establishes committee to review regional police

Public committee meetings were held throughout the year to review the charter and work out details such as a 50/50 budget split, how the relevant regional police commission would work, and what would happen if either municipality opted out after the regional police force was formed.

Read more:

After the draft was completed and reviewed by attorneys from both sides, both communities agreed to hold hearings on the charter.

Read more: North Lebanon Township takes action to form regional police force

If, after the hearings, both municipalities decide to implement the charter, they will proceed with regionalization unless one of the municipalities backs out before the formation of the regional police commission.

More news from the superiors:

They voted unanimously to sign a letter expressing their opposition to state laws HB1976 and HB2045, which allow certain types of residential development in certain non-residential areas. “Zoning issues are local issues, not state-mandated ones,” Wahmann said. “With all due respect to our state legislators, they should stay out of zoning in communities; not just North Cornwall, but all communities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Heard that the Neversink Fire Company will be conducting a controlled burn this Saturday from 8am to 4pm as a training exercise. Cornwall Road from Isabelle Drive to Springwood Drive will be closed during the burn.
Issuance of bonds and letters of credit reductions to Landmark Homes and 2040 Quentin Road.

North Cornwall Township meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Meetings are open to the public and no advance registration is required.

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