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Saint Clair Police Patrols Neighbor Township’s Streets

EAST NORWEGIAN TOWNSHIP — The streets of East Norwegian Township will now be patrolled by Saint Clair Police. That department near Pottsville has six full...

EAST NORWEGIAN TOWNSHIP -- The streets of East Norwegian Township will now be patrolled by Saint Clair Police.

That department near Pottsville has six full-time and 10 part-time officers and has now taken over patrol duties for the neighboring township.

For the past several years,  East Norwegian Township has been covered by state police out of Schuylkill Haven .

"I've been a supervisor for 44 years and there`s been one murder in the township at that time," said Jack Ketnet, the Vice-Chairman for East Norwegian Township.

Ketner said the three-year contract with Saint Clair Police will be paid for by an increase in property taxes.

He said it's almost the same increase taxpayers would have seen if the township had hired a part-time officer.

The chairman said the partnership with Saint Clair is a better option, since the borough can respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"I think it`s less expensive and the community in itself will be very happy," said Sonny Davis, who lives and owns Pine Acres Restaurant in East Norwegian Township.

The township has about 900 residents.

William Dempsey, the acting police chief for Saint Clair said, right now, his department is big enough to handle the extra patrols.

"We`re looking at manpower issues and we`re going to expand our manpower per shift as we can financially and we`ll review that in our budget as we go forward," said Dempsey.

People who live in East Norwegian Township said they`re happy that Saint Clair police will be patrolling their area. While residents said there isn`t a very high crime rate around here, they will appreciate that when there is an issue the response time could be much shorter.

"I think Saint Clair providing us, East Norwegian township, is a great idea. " said Lisa Davis, who works at Pine Acres Restaurant in the township.

"They`ll get to know us by name, we`re a small police department and i think it will form a personal connection," said Dempsey.

Saint Clair's acting chief said if the partnership with East Norwegian Township works out, the borough may look to expand patrols into other communities.

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