Honesdale police: hires and fires

LINDA DROLLINGER
Posted 8/21/12

HONESDALE, PA — It was former mayor Jack Bishop who introduced the topic that must not be discussed. Speaking during the citizen input segment of the April 11 Honesdale borough council meeting, he …

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Honesdale police: hires and fires

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HONESDALE, PA — It was former mayor Jack Bishop who introduced the topic that must not be discussed. Speaking during the citizen input segment of the April 11 Honesdale borough council meeting, he urged swift action by the council to make final the dismissal of a police officer suspended from duty without pay since the December incident when he allegedly failed to respond to a call for backup.

Bishop’s comments were immediately followed by those of former councilperson Harry DeVries, who asked why the procedure surrounding an officer’s suspension should take precedence over facts compelling it. Saying that this is a case in litigation pending against the borough’s police department, he urged the council to let a court decide the officer’s fate.

To many spectators, remarks by both men were mystifying. The unnamed officer’s suspension and dismissal had, to date, been discussed only in council executive sessions. Little information was released to the public, although in late December, Scranton and Honesdale newspapers reported (then) Council President James Brennan saying that Sergeant Keith Colombo had been dismissed from the borough police force.

The current council refused again to discuss the matter, citing attorney advice with regard to pending litigation.

Asked after the meeting for clarification, Police Chief Rick Southerton confirmed that Bishop and DeVries had been referring to the suspension and subsequent dismissal of Sergeant Keith Colombo. The police union is grieving Colombo’s suspension, on grounds that improper procedure was followed.

At the time of Colombo’s suspension, there were only three full-time borough officers and Southerton, a working officer as well as chief of police. Since then, there have been only two full-time officers and Southerton, supplemented by about a dozen part-time officers recruited from neighboring forces.

But that number has been insufficient to meet the demands of 24/7 policing of the borough and neighboring townships. Southerton told the council that the borough is routinely called to handle incidents at Walmart and KMart malls in Texas Township, which is served by state police but has no police force of its own. It is likewise regularly called to handle incidents in Dyberry Township, which also relies solely on thinly stretched state police patrols.

Regional policing, a concept being explored by Southerton and the council, could be the answer. But, in remarks made after the meeting, Southerton said his experience has been that outlying townships are often either unable or unwilling to assume the cost of a dedicated police force, relying instead on the combination of state and borough police to serve their peace-officer needs.

To meet that growing need, the council voted to hire two new part-time officers, beginning April 12, at a salary of $15 per hour.

A stopgap measure at best, the hiring of part-time officers does not address the long-term challenges facing a borough that encompasses rural, urban and suburban landscapes and lifestyles—as evidenced by Southerton’s question to the council regarding a proposed burn-ban ordinance: how can his already over-stretched force be expected to respond to every call about a backyard campfire marshmallow roast?

Recognizing Southerton’s need to make autonomous manpower decisions, the council rescinded a March 21 resolution limiting Southerton’s authority to elimination of no more than two shifts per week, if necessary. He may now eliminate as many shifts as he deems necessary.

And in the other important role historically assumed by local police—crime prevention and safety practices education—Southerton advises the public to dispose of unused prescription medicines by placing them in the collection box provided for that purpose in the county courthouse.

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