White Haven police force tackles new territory

May 17—Tom Szoke always believed in a high visibility police force.

Uniformed officers patrolling in traditional black and white vehicles draw the public's attention, said the White Haven police chief. It's how he operated for his 27-year law enforcement career, all of it spent in White Haven, and it's how the borough officers work. It's something he brought to every municipality White Haven's force covers, including Foster Twp., a new territory added about three months ago.

"You're not supposed to hide from the public, you're supposed to be visible," said Szoke. Specialized units and details are the exception.

White Haven began selling its police services to neighboring communities starting with Dennison Twp. over 10 years ago, when Szoke was a part-time officer. Then police Chief Gary Shupp approached Dennison offering to help curtail their increase in burglaries by selling them patrol hours. And, while there's no gauge to show patrols prevent crime, once they began rolling through Dennison in 2005, Szoke said those burglaries decreased.

Burglaries are still down, said Dennison Twp. Supervisor Michael Mack, leaving mostly car accidents and domestic incidents to respond to. The arrangement has worked out well for the township, Mack said. "We are extremely happy with it."

Patrol arrangements were worked out with Penn Lake Park borough in 2010 and eventually Foster Twp., where patrols began in February. Every time a new community joined, the police force increased its ranks to accommodate, said Szoke. It was a natural progression that eventually led to a 24/7 police station where part-time officers earn $22 per hour.

The addition of Foster allowed the force to increase its size from six part-time officers to nine, plus the full-time chief. It benefitted all the communities the force serves, too, Szoke said. Two officers at a time work staggered shifts with a third officer floating in any one of their coverage areas at any given time. The officers are able to enforce local ordinances like quality of life violations and their presence takes a burden off Pennsylvania State Police, who are the only consistent law enforcement presence in communities without a local department. But, state police are still able to provide backup and handle other calls if White Haven is tied up with an incident. The borough also gets backup from police in Butler Twp., Kidder Twp. and Mountain Top area departments, said Szoke.

White Haven officers span an 83-square-mile coverage area made up of Foster with about 45 square miles, Dennison with about 35, about 2 square miles in Penn Lake and White Haven with about 1. The department was budgeted for $194,884.60 in 2021 expenses, while Dennison agreed to pay the borough $27,000 for 20 hours this year and Penn Lake was budgeted to pay $10,300 for seven hours. In February, Foster agreed to pay White Haven about $105,000 for the year for 60 patrol hours each week.

The agreements resulted in 1,066 incidents handled by White Haven police five months into the year.

Patrol hours may fluctuate from time to time because crime is unpredictable but Szoke ensures the towns are never shortchanged.

Mack said Dennison never felt slighted as more communities bought hours from White Haven, due to the borough hiring more officers each time a new community entered the coverage area. Being fair to Dennison was an incentive to keep the agreement going.

"We haven't had any complaints," said Mack. There have been periodic complaints from people issued speeding tickets, but Mack said speed risks lives and it's a law officers are responsible to enforce. In fact, he wished the commonwealth would make it easier for them to clock speeds by allowing local police to use radar.

With roughly 11,000 people living in Dennison Twp., a mostly residential and rural community with two housing developments, Mack said it would have been too costly to create their own local force. The arrangement of buying police hours, he said, gives towns just like Dennison the ability to have local protection without a huge financial investment.

Selling police services is less costly than a regional department, said Szoke, who factored studies into the cost of regionalization. Also, any of the municipalities White Haven serves could pull out at any time with 30 days notice, unlike a regional effort.

From the road to the station

While monitoring traffic on Route 940 in Foster Twp., officers pass out tickets to the ire of some. but Szoke said they're just doing their job and protecting the communities they serve.

Szoke knows people are taking notice, too. He's read the social media posts alerting people to mind their speed because someone saw White Haven officers watching traffic in Foster.

While other communities invest in the services White Haven police provides, the borough is investing, too, as it's renovating their station with grant money. The plans add a processing room, victim interview room, interrogation room and a dedicated holding area to the station. There's also a safe room, which is accessible from the sidewalk to the public and locks from the inside. Szoke said someone from outside can access the building if they are being chased, lock the door for safety and use a phone inside to call 911. The second floor will eventually host police offices and a locker room.

Szoke believes his department will find itself being awarded more grants in the future when governing bodies realize White Haven's force services four communities.

Sen. John Yudichak, I-14, Swoyersville, helped the force receive a $50,000 grant for equipment recently. That money will pay for body cameras equipped with GPS, which will aid in evidence collection and proves a useful tool in court, said Szoke. They will buy new weapons and a new UTV, which will help officers get out to more rural and remote locations when they are needed. The UTV will be used to track down people trespassing on property with all-terrain vehicles and other investigations. Recently, he said, trespassers were found on Pagnotti Enterprises land in Upper Lehigh. They set up a permanent camper with fire pits and it appeared they were there for a while, the chief said.

The department will also invest in mobile traffic enforcement signs that alert motorists of their speed.

But, there's something else in the station that money can't buy — respect. It's something Szoke gives his officers and something he expects his officers to treat the public with. When he's off duty, every officer is in charge because he believes they are all capable.

"I have the best officers in the world," he said. Each of them has street smarts and common sense, two skills he said will make for a long career in law enforcement.

He prides the department's eagerness to provide community policing whenever possible, especially with children. Reinforcing or creating ties with the community opens up the lines of communication.

"It makes our job easier if the community supports us," he said. It also makes the public more comfortable talking to police about crime.

Attempts to get feedback from Foster Twp. for this story were unsuccessful.

Contact the writer: achristman@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3584