'Save The Yardley Borough Police' Campaign Launched

YARDLEY BOROUGH, PA — A borough resident has launched a campaign to spare the Yardley Borough Police Department from being disbanded and consolidated with Lower Makefield Township.

Dawn Perlmutter told Patch that she launched the campaign — with signs on and around her house — after discussions about the police department's future and the formation of a "police transition committee.

"We need to make the interim police chief (William Golden) permanent," Perlmutter said. "We do not need to search for a new police chief."

After residents raised concerns about potential changes to the police department, the council responded by forming the committee to explore the possibility of merging the department with a neighboring municipality.

Talk has gotten heated at some recent Borough Council meetings with Council President Caroline Thompson, who is running for mayor, even taking time while on vacation to defend herself in a Facebook post.

Thompson said the criticism is coming over the future of the borough's police department.

Borough Council formed a Police Transition Committee in May to discuss options for the police department's future.

Perlmutter stated that some committee members want to contract police services to Lower Makefield Township, where former Police Chief Joseph Kelly III is now in charge after taking the post in March.

The committee got off to a rocky start, with one member resigning. Meanwhile, council members argued over the committee's creation.

Perlmutter said that some council members have proposed establishing a search committee to replace Golden, a member of the borough's police force for 20 years.

Outgoing Borough Councilman Jared Stump has voiced opposition. He warned that consolidation could lead to less police coverage and that any short-term cost savings would be outweighed by long-term drawbacks.

Talk of consolidation or elimination of the police department has also cropped up over recent years as borough officials said that the department's costs are 40 percent of the borough's overall budget.

Perlmutter is urging residents to join in her campaign to save the police department.

She's asking residents to:

• Email Yardley Borough Council members (Click here to find the email addresses)
• Go to Borough Council meetings and voice your concerns during public comment
• Attend Police Transition Committee meetings and voice your concerns
• Tell the borough to videotape and post Police Transition Committee meetings on the Yardley Boro Facebook Page and allow public comments
• Tell Borough Council that Yardley does not need to waste money on a search committee for a new police chief.

(Dawn Perlmutter)

(Dawn Perlmutter)