Jefferson Township in discussion with Saxonburg over police coverage
JEFFERSON TWP — Saxonburg and Jefferson Township are entering discussions about the possibility of having the Saxonburg Police Department supplement the police coverage offered to the township by state police.
At its meeting on Monday night, Oct. 14, the Jefferson Township supervisors agreed to send a member of the board — John Cypher — to meet with Saxonburg police at a time yet to be determined.
Under the agreement proposed by Mayor Bill Gillespie, Saxonburg Police would dispatch a designated officer to patrol the Jefferson Township area for 20 to 24 hours per week. The designated officer would enforce the Jefferson Township code, while their wages would be paid by the borough of Saxonburg.
“In other words, the officer will be an employee of Saxonburg serving in Jefferson Township,” Gillespie said Monday. “Jefferson Township would receive the proceeds of any and all fines that are issued.”
Gillespie said Saxonburg has a similar agreement to provide police services to Summit Township. Last month, Gillespie appeared at a Clinton Township supervisors meeting to make a similar proposal, but Clinton opted to stick with the coverage offered by state police.
“Saxonburg is a very small area with a very good police department,” Gillespie said during his presentation. “But we’re surrounded by Jefferson Township. We’re basically in Jefferson Township. So it makes a lot of sense to offer you our police coverage.”
Gillespie said Saxonburg police would supplement, not replace, state police coverage. Both sides agreed that if the township accepted the proposal, Saxonburg police would be responsible for local calls such as vandalism and domestic disturbances.
Cypher will also attend a meeting of the Saxonburg borough council on Tuesday night, Oct. 15 to discuss the intergovernmental agreement between Saxonburg and Jefferson Township on how to police Constitution Road, which is on the border between the two municipalities.
