SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE POLICE DEBATE

I found the public meeting on Monday evening involving the future of the East Washington police force to be a fascinating display of town hall democracy in action, with a rousing debate on both sides of the issue.  The citizens who attended on this blustery night were overwhelmingly in favor of maintaining the police force.  The mayor and several council members supported the citizenry.  Other council members believed that a study recommending the outsourcing of the police function to the City of Washington deserved consideration.

The discussion centered on the tradeoff between keeping a more visible police presence that is manned by part time, underpaid police officers with minimal supervision versus replacing it with a less visible police presence manned by a full time, better paid and better equipped police force. While I really do not have a dog in this fight, and see merits to both positions, I came away from the meeting with several thoughts I would like to share. 

First, I think it is important to remember that the part time, underpaid and less supervised model is arguably what led to the serious problems which necessitated the study in the first place. Changes are clearly in order to avoid similar occurrences.  These changes could certainly include keeping the police department in place.  One need look no further than Pittsburgh for an example of a large police department with inadequate accountability.  Size alone is not the issue.

 Unfortunately while there was discussion and individual testimonials, at the meeting, to support the premise that “more boots on the ground” on East Washington’s streets have lowered the crime rate compared to comparable communities that have outsourced this function, no data was presented to validate this view.  It would also be helpful to know how many Pennsylvania communities, similar to East Washington, maintain their own police departments.

Second is the notion that East Washington would lose its identity if it no longer has a dedicated police department.  In my experience this is not a foregone conclusion.  I have lived in Blackridge, in eastern Allegheny County which takes great pride in not being Churchill, Penn Hills and certainly not Wilkinsburg (even though the area is made up of all three).  Blackridge maintains its identity through a thriving Civic Association which holds activities all year long to build a sense of community.

 Another example is Buena Vista, a community in Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County.  The residents here keep their separate identity and are not known as residents from Elizabeth and certainly not from McKeesport.  Neither of these communities, nor many others across the State, sacrifice their uniqueness in the absence of a dedicated police force.

With our without a police department, municipal services will continue to get more expensive over time.  If East Washington is compelled to hire full time police officers in order to address administrative shortfalls and problems from the past, then salary, pension and medical insurance costs will grow quickly and consume more of the budget.

I believe that in the near future, increased municipal cost sharing between all Pennsylvania counties and their urban centers and between cities and their smaller neighbors will be unavoidable.  For the present, East Washington should carefully consider the options in balancing cost, efficiency and safety.  Monday’s meeting was a transparent step in that direction.