{"id":3254,"date":"2012-12-03T08:34:37","date_gmt":"2012-12-03T13:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=3254"},"modified":"2012-12-03T08:34:37","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T13:34:37","slug":"e-fallowfield-residents-challenge-police-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=3254","title":{"rendered":"E. Fallowfield residents challenge police budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Residents say department’s budget is too high<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Jamie Richard<\/strong>, Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>EAST FALLOWFIELD \u2013 Residents expressed their concerns over police spending in the township\u2019s board of supervisors discussed the proposed 2013 budget.<\/p>\n

A workshop for the budget was held last week, prior to the supervisors’ regular meeting in which the board looked for ways to reduce an anticipated deficit of roughly $66,000. Several residents suggested making cuts to the police department, arguing that its budget was too high.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a community the size of this one in a suburban area, 50% of the budget going to the police force\u2026is unconscionable or at least questionable at best,\u201d said resident Wesley Maughan.<\/p>\n

The police department\u2019s budget is an estimated $1 million, while the overall the preliminary budget for the township is projected at approximately $2.4 million.<\/p>\n

Board supervisor Ed Porter informed residents that the board is limited in making reductions to the police department because of its contract. According to Porter, the Pennsylvania Second Class Township Code requires a township to have a contract with its police department if the department possesses more than two full-time officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much we can do in certain areas because of the contract,\u201d said Porter. \u201cYou cannot reduce this police department unless there\u2019s just cause on an officer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porter added that the only other option for the board would be to dissolve the department and start over, an idea that some residents found acceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think dissolving it is exactly right,\u201d said Maughan. \u201cLet\u2019s start over.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board, however, was quick to point out that it had no plans of pursuing that option.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will always be police service in this township, \u201c said Porter. \u201cThat\u2019s not something you would want to do without thought or something you would ever want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board plans on renegotiating terms with the police department once the current contract expires.<\/p>\n

The board of supervisors will have their next meeting on Dec. 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Residents say department’s budget is too high By Jamie Richard, Staff Writer, The Times EAST FALLOWFIELD \u2013 Residents expressed their concerns over police spending in the township\u2019s board of supervisors discussed the proposed 2013 budget. A workshop for the budget was held last week, prior to the supervisors’ regular meeting in which the board looked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[1184,127,1183,186,181],"class_list":["post-3254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-2013-budget","tag-east-fallowfield","tag-ed-porter","tag-police","tag-township-supervisors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}