It’s a question I’m often asked. It’s been a concern for Mayor Gross and all of us on Council.
I read a story this morning on the Express-Times website (ET) about an “Easton-area borough” (that would be us) “considering a police shakeup” (whatever that means).
As residents know, we haven’t had local police patrols since we lost coverage from the City of Easton. We are now protected by Pennsylvania State Police (PSP). A situation that the PSP and West Easton residents are less than pleased about.
The ET reported that we “balked” at paying an increase for a contract with Easton. Mayor Gross reported publicly that the City of Easton refused to cover us with a new contract. Whether we balked, or Easton’s Mayor Sal Panto simply decided the nuisance of covering West Easton at the time wasn’t worth it, isn’t an issue.
Our problem isn’t needing protection for felony crimes. We don’t have a retail or banking district that has armed robberies. No high speed chases (unless they began in another community and made their way here). Murders, assaults, meth labs? Not what you are likely to find in a community where residents actually ask people they don’t know, “Who are you and what are you doing in [neighbor’s] yard?”
Our problem is needing a policing authority to cover quality of life issues and acquiring a faster response time from any police protection.
Parties that go on after hours and the noise that accompanies them, unregistered/abandoned vehicles, vandalism, parking violations, illegal dumping, and other nuisances that don’t require a SWAT team or a police dog.
For police that would cover West Easton, it would be down-time, when compared to what they often face in their home community.
Committees from Wilson and West Easton will meet August 1st to begin opening a dialogue on whether our two communities can eventually come to an agreement for police coverage.
Both our communities have a budget. Wilson will want to show its residents that West Easton isn’t paying any less than they are and West Easton can’t pay more than it can afford, or pay for what we don’t use within the Wilson Police budget. If what I read on ET is accurate, there already seems to be opposition to an agreement by a couple of members on the Wilson Borough Council.
Hopefully, both our community committees can work in achieving something that benefits each other. I expect it to be a long process and it is always possible that no such agreement might be achieved.
In the meantime, you can become pro-active in helping your own community with some of the nuisance issues we face. Contact West Easton Borough Hall and let them know that you are interested in joining a Block Watch Program that is in the process of being revived.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
