Wakefield Township Meeting Gets Heated During Police Contract Discussion [AUDIO]

WAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP -  Things got heated during the Wakefield Township meeting on Thursday night.

A discussion was held on the termination of the Joint Powers Agreement Wakefield has with the Cold Spring Police Department.

The township officially ended the contract back on March 7th. The board says they wanted to end the police contract because it was outdated, the agreement is 14 years old. The board also emphasized that they still have the Sheriff's department to handle situations in the Township.

Emotions peaked after the board decided to continue forward with their plan. Many citizens expressed concerns with having less police protection without the contract in place. Steve DiBrito was a citizen in attendance and questioned why the contract was being halted in the first place.

There is a sixth month termination clause which states that the contract will be void six months from their motion to end the agreement. This will expire on September 7th. In the meantime, Cold Spring will continue to provide Wakefield Township with the same police services.

Cold Spring Police Chief Chris Boucher also presented to the board, saying that Wakefield Township accounts for 27 percent of the departments call load. Wakefield Township is paying a total of $56,758 for police protection, which is 5.9 percent of the budget amount.

Wakefield Township would like to enter into a possible Service Contract with Cold Spring instead of a Joint Powers Agreement.  The board did say that it was open to citizen suggestions and that a special meeting may be held in the future to discuss the topic further.