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Council introduces draft requiring officer at meetings; members agree to study policy first
Summary
Council introduced Ordinance 2848, proposing a fixed police officer assignment at borough meetings. Members disagreed over whether the requirement should be an ordinance or a written SOP and agreed to discuss at the public safety meeting before further action.
The clerk read Ordinance 2848, an introduction to amend the borough code concerning meetings. The ordinance would require a fixed police officer assignment at every meeting. Councilman Johnson and others argued a fixed officer improves safety and is common in other jurisdictions; he said it need not create overtime if scheduled as a special shift. Opponents, including Councilwoman Lions, said a written policy or standard operating procedure under the chief of police might be preferable to a mandatory ordinance because it preserves operational discretion and avoids creating an inflexible duty that could conflict with emergency response needs.
Members raised cost and staffing questions: whether a mandatory ordinance would force overtime or additional hires, and whether the police chief had been consulted or could adopt an SOP instead. Several members suggested placing the issue on the public safety committee agenda for March 3 to review staffing implications and confirm whether an SOP could meet the council’s goal of memorializing consistent officer presence without a legal mandate.
The council ultimately introduced the ordinance (a motion to introduce carried with five yes votes and one no), while agreeing to study the question, coordinate with the police chief, and revisit the issue after the public safety meeting.
