Nazareth Mayor Sets Record Straight on Regionalization

Regionalization.  It’s an option.  It may not be the answer.

Nazareth Mayor Fred Daugherty set the record straight on the and the possibility of regionalizing during last night’s council meeting.

“[Regionalization] is just one of the options,” Daugherty said, adding that the Borough may decide to keep the current police department as its own separate entity, or may decide to contract another department.

With , Daugherty and Thomas Trachta, the chief of police, decided a change may be needed.

“I asked [Trachta] what he thought would be the perfect police department for this town,” Daugherty said.

That “perfect” department would be comprised of eight full-time patrol officers and four officers with rank; a total of 12 officers.  Currently, there are three full-time officers.  When one of those officers needs off for sickness or for other personal reasons, a strain is placed on the department, according to Daugherty. 

“We don’t have the numbers to fill the gaps,” he said.  “We have a detective who’s playing patrol officer, so we don’t get to follow up on investigations that need to be done.”

After receiving the requested information from Trachta, Daugherty asked the Borough treasurer to put the numbers together.

“After seeing those numbers, it kind of became consensus that we needed to look at our options,” he said.

At the end of the day, change in some form is necessary, whether it be regionalizing the department, contracting a department nearby, or working on, but keeping the current department as its own entity, according to Daugherty. 

"We either continue to limp along, or we look elsewhere and look towards the future," he said.

Councilman Larry Stoudt commended Daugherty.

"I applaud the Mayor for taking the initiative to get something done," Stoudt said.  "This police department has to be dealt with.  If it means we have to negotiate with someone outside of the Borough, then I think that is what we have to do."

No further discussion was held on the matter, nor were any decisions made.