Since announcing our intention to terminate police services in Woodlynne, we have watched as Woodlynne has made efforts, without success, to find alternate police services. No other town has agreed to provide the service; the State has not stepped up with a solution; Woodlynne has not been able to assemble a plan to provide their own police service. So we have revamped Collingswood police services and decided to continue the service for another year, until July 1, 2010.

Many of you have asked why we started to provide the service in the first place. We are joined with Woodlynne at the hip – sharing more than just a border. Woodlynne children attend our High School. In the years before we began the service, Woodlynne had one officer on the streets on most nights. Collingswood had become the de facto backup on every call, without any control over calls or policing policies. Our officers were being put in harms way without the authority to implement overall policies to correct the problem. We were left to respond as a backup – and things were getting worse and affecting our neighborhoods and our school.

For the first two years of providing service to Woodlynne, we believe there was progress made. During those first two years, we also provided rental and housing inspections for Woodlynne. Then, in the Spring of 2008 Woodlynne decided to end Collingswood’s inspection services. Since then, our Police Department believes we have been losing ground.

We recently met with Woodlynne’s Mayor, who in the Spring of 2008 also became Woodlynne's full-time Administrator, regarding these issues. We expressed our concern that his replacement of our Fire personnel as Housing Inspector with a relative of the Mayor/Administrator severely reduced the effectiveness of the inspection program. To put it mildly, he did not agree with our assessment of the issues.We then wrote an extensive letter to the Mayor and Council reviewing our concerns over Woodlynne’s handling of rental and housing inspections and our belief that the only chance for a successful long-term police relationship is the return to an aggressive rental and housing enforcement program. A copy of that letter is attached. It has been our experience in Collingswood over the last twenty years that police efforts go hand-in-hand with competent housing code enforcement, which prevents neighborhoods from becoming a breeding ground for crime. While we will continue policing Woodlynne for the next year, we have left it to the governing body of Woodlynne to make the changes we believe necessary to continue this relationship beyond the next year.

With the continuation of Woodlynne service, we have rescinded three of the six layoff notices issued to police. This change that has helped save some jobs was only possible through concessions gained from the police union. The FOP agreed to open their contract and give back payroll benefits to keep an officer.

We have redeployed the patrols into sectors to assure regular patrols throughout both towns. We have modified work rules and reassigned administrative positions back to the street.  We believe these changes will actually result in more patrol hours for every neighborhood.

This process has not been easy. Coupled with our budget issues, it has been the worst two months in my 20 years with the Borough. But these steps we take are intended to keep Collingswood safe today and in the future. We are constantly vigilant on these issues and will always ensure we take care of our own first. In this issue, as on other fronts, assisting our neighbor in a reasonable fashion is the best public safety step for Collingswood.