CLEARFIELD- Since the original decision by Clearfield Borough to elect to leave the Clearfield Regional Commission and dissolve the Regional Police Department, the animosity has been extremely high among officers and borough officials. There have been court orders, but little if any discussion of where to go. Wednesday night, the issue drew in a large crowd of both citizens and officers to the Lawrence Township Municipal Building. It also drew in nearly the entire Lawrence Township Board of Supervisors and Clearfield Borough Council.
The goal among all was to find some common ground, and to give the officers in attendance a bit of peace of mind.
The consensus among many in the crowd was to have the current Clearfield Regional Police Department stay together. District Attorney, Ryan Sayers, mentioned when he came to the podium that the current borough has many individuals that are intelligent and showed strong desire to keep the police. But, things were different once all those individuals came together.
“Individually, you all are very intelligent people. But, as a group, the herd mentality is prevailing in wanting to disband. It’s a true emotional cloud over the borough,” Sayers said.
He would continue to say that since this began months ago, there had been no formal mediation proceeding to come to an agreement between the two municipalities. He wants that to happen, and even went as far as offering his services as mediator for no charge. His plea to both bodies was to keep the police department, due to logistics of separation, costs, and evidence preservation.
Agatha Lauder, who is a Township employee, spoke only as a citizen, and pushed to have the two sides remain together for a regional department, noting how of all the options they have been given, the most effective, cost and coverage, is still regionalization.
Christie Fulton not only spoke, but also had charts ready to show budget pitfalls on Clearfield Borough, noting how that prior to the merger of the two departments in 2023, part-time officers were making up a rather sizeable portion of the department. She would go on and show that at the current budget that the borough is planning, a $1 million annual allotment, they would come up short to what would be needed to cover pay, benefits, and overtime.
After public comments, Township supervisor, Randy Powell, had one simple question for the borough; “Do you even have a plan?”
Ann Jane Ross, president of Clearfield Borough, admitted they have not had conversations about the plan going forward, namely due to their financial situation.
Police Chief Julie Curry reviewed what it would cost to officers, should the regional police be nullified, to officers that were let go, it would be over $400,000 to officers, both current and former, of the department.
“It is important to know now what you intend to do, that way these officers know if they have a job or not. We have four officers laid off, some getting offers from other departments,” she said.
Borough councilman, Bill Armstrong, agreed that everyone is concerned about spiraling costs, especially for health insurance, but quickly noted that the time they did have to actually discuss the situation had passed with little effort.
“We are already in March, so 25% of the opportunity we’ve had for this year to fix the problem has come and gone,” Armstrong said.
Bruce Fair was very poignant on his stance, noting that he also was working with Fulton on the budget she showed; and his version that, in his mind, “took out the fluff.” He admitted the budget was written incorrectly, and now when the borough applies for grants, it is unlikely they will get them because they can’t match the funding.
“Negotiations between the borough, township, and the police commission has been poorly done. There are things that we can do, however they haven’t been done,” Fair said. “We really need to sit down, as reasonable adults, come together and stay in the regional police at the absolute lowest number possible to keep these officers.”
That comment got applause from the officers and the crowd, with many on the board nodding approval as well.
Jeremy Ruffner, representing the township, made note of if they decided to flip and go back to being separate departments, the officers that have been with the regional police now have some longevity, and the thought of not having those experienced officers was unfeasible. He then made note of transferring evidence in pending cases to a new building would require a lot of legal hurdles, and officers who could log all the evidence properly. Sayers chimed in on that note that if they were to do that, moving the evidence to any police station, would cause a legal void of who can maintain evidence.
Curry also noted that when the departments first regionalized, around six individuals, including herself, were cataloging and redoing the evidence room, taking weeks to finish. Moving that evidence would mean less people doing so, and a longer period, to which a defense attorney could say that the chain of command is broken, and the evidence was tampered with.
Mayor Mason Strouse, although not yet convinced that they stay with a regionalized department, noted how the progress tonight was more than he had seen or read about in the last several months.
“I am pleased that we are having these conversations. We need to have more of these joint meetings, so we can be more vocal about this issue,” Strouse said. “It’s unfortunate that we are here in the first place.”
Ruffner added that these discussions were bigger than just the CRPD saying, “It’s setting the future of Clearfield.”
“Right now, expenses are exceeding the revenue, and separating would only be more expensive, for both the township and the borough. Together, we are a much safer community. This sets the future of what Clearfield would be.”
“I know there has been a lot of bad blood in the past, but now, we need to erase that memory and start new.”
George Dehaven also agreed with that sentiment, stating that he did not want any of the officers to lose their job.
Powell then made a note that, although in agreement that they need to sit down and discuss this more, they had to do so rather quickly.
“We have to figure out what we are doing before June. The contract negotiations between the union and the police commission begin in June, and the current contract ends in December,” Powell said.
Everyone in attendance between Clearfield Borough and Lawrence Township agreed that they need to have biweekly meetings to continue to discuss proceedings, with each making the same motion to do so beginning in two weeks. Both sides agreed they will meet again on Wednesday, March 25, beginning at 5:30 p.m. They all also agreed that these meetings will alternate between the township building and the borough.
The next joint meeting will happen at the Clearfield Borough building. Township supervisors will convene again on St. Patrick’s Day, this coming Tuesday, at 5 p.m. Borough Council will be back in session on Thursday, March 19, also starting at 5 p.m.
