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Tinicum police report bridge strikes and traffic incidents; EMS merger with St. Luke's completed, official says
Summary
Tinicum Township Police reported multiple February incidents, three reportable crashes and recent bridge strikes that damaged the Golden Pheasant bridge; EMS leadership said the regional merger with St. Luke's completed Feb. 2 and staffing and service continuity have been maintained.
Chief Madden presented the police department's monthly report on March 3, noting 179 incident reports in February. Of those, 54 were criminal or investigative (including an arrest for aggravated assault and two theft arrests stemming from a stolen dirt bike), 38 were service-related, 74 were traffic-related and 13 were training or court-related reports. The department recorded three reportable traffic accidents in February, including a two-vehicle crash at Easton Road and Hollow Horn Road that occurred when a motorist ran a red light; one person was taken to the hospital and both vehicles were towed.
Chief Madden said the Golden Pheasant bridge suffered disabling damage when a tractor-trailer struck it; she reported two other bridge strikes in the past month and said she had contacted PennDOT seeking additional signage because the bridge has been struck multiple times. The department conducted 18 truck details on River Road in February; two bridge strikes were reported during those operations; one driver was cited, another left the scene. Chief Madden noted January response times were slightly slower due to weather and announced community outreach events including "Ice Cream with the Cops" on April 1 and a spring drug take-back on April 25.
During public comment, Dan Albee (Operations Manager, Upper Bucks under St. Luke's) said the merger with St. Luke's was completed on Feb. 2. He reported that all systems have transitioned, vehicle rebranding is underway with each truck taking about six weeks for signage changes, and staffing expanded regionally from 33 to 237 employees; three employees chose not to join St. Luke's. He said full-time and part-time staff now receive PTO and retirement benefits through St. Luke's and that recent in-service rates were 100% for Station 142 and 99.2% for Station 141. Albee provided contact information to the board and invited questions.
The board did not take any formal votes on policing or EMS operations at the meeting; supervisors thanked both departments for their work and asked staff to continue coordination with PennDOT concerning bridge-strike prevention.
