At the end of a September 9 evening meeting, the Lancaster Township Public Safety Committee recommended that the township accept an offer from Manheim Township to provide police services to this Lancaster City suburb. Mayor Rick Gray and City Administrator Patrick Hopkins as well as representatives from the Manheim Township Police Department presented the committee with their respective proposals for service.
In addition to the proposals offered by the City, Mayor Gray also strongly recommended that the City and all of its surrounding townships consider forming a unified, “metropolitan police force.” Gray contended that such a system, also referred to as a “regional” force, was the surest route to coordinating optimal police service within the area:
“If you took these three municipalities, you’d have over 100,000 people. Tack on a couple of the other ones right around it that expressed interest here, and you could have an incredible police department. And it wouldn’t be the city’s police department. It would be a metropolitan police department run by an authority….It’s the way things are going, and it gets around lines that were drawn in the 1700s as to jurisdiction.”
Although a regional department will not likely be pursued as an immediate solution to Lancaster Township’s police coverage dilemma, Gray told a NewsLanc reporter that the evening’s meeting was an ideal opportunity to promote the concept of larger-scale cooperation. At one point during the meeting, committee chair Michael Pickard said that he is not opposed to the idea of a metropolitan police department, but noted that, presently, the proposal is “not on the table—unfortunately.”
The previous arrangement, in which the City supplied ten police officers, cost the township about $1.5 million this year. Next year, however, the City would require $1.7 million for, essentially, the same services. The City also presented the township with a less expensive, alternative arrangment: For about $1.65 million each year, the City would bypass municipal borders and direct its police resources to Lancaster Township as if it were simply another part of Lancaster City.
Manheim Township offered yet another alternative plan to extend its own coverage into the fragmented township for about $1 million.
Following presentations from both Lancaster City and Manheim Township Police, the committee thoroughly discussed the two proposals, with frequent interaction from the audience of approximately 60 community members whose views were generally split among the two options. The central question was whether taxpayer savings were worth losing the role that the City’s department has played for decades in Lancaster Township.
The City offered a large, well-trained, urban police force to a township that encounters its fair share of “urban problems.” It was generally accepted that, in critical situations, the City would be equipped to provide a stronger and more rapid response; however, it was also established that Manheim Township would provide a larger presence of regular patrolling officers, regardless of emergencies.
Finally, with a three-to-two vote, the committee recommended that Lancaster Township contract with the Manheim Township Police Department to provide police services. Pickard, along with Kenneth Buchman and Doris James backed the MT proposal, while Ken Armentrout and Patrick Egan voted in favor of the City. It was suggested by one community member, earlier in the meeting, that the contract be set for one rather than five years, to accommodate the possibility of a regional police force. Pickard acknowledged this as a “a well-taken point.”
