Did we save money by regionalizing police?

Question:
Did we save money by switching from Barrett Township to Pocono Mountain Regional police?

Answer:
I'm going through the "Public Safety - Police" total expense lines for years available to me and here is what I have:

[Updated 1/7/21 to include 2020's budget]

2010: $552,000 (When Barrett had 6 officers)
2011: ?
2012: ?
2013: ? (+ $100,000*)
2014: ?
2015: $709,000 (The year that Barrett police disbanded. Had 5 officers)
2016: $520,000 (Regional)
2017: $520,000 (Regional)
2018: $578,000 (Regional)
2019: $551,000 (Regional)
2020: $575,048 (Regional)

On paper, the answer is yes, it seems we are saving over $100k per year, when you compare 2015 to future years.

However if you rewind a few years further, back to when we had less officers in town, the costs are roughly equal.

* Jury finds Barrett Twp. cops at fault for Cresco man’s death
(Opinion: this could also have factored into the overall decision about going with regional police, as it might have required higher insurance premiums to keep these two officers on payroll)

Last modified on Tuesday, 26 April 2022 09:16

Published in Local News