Image courtesy of the JPBA
The council voted unanimously to support Chief Thomas Scott, despite a unanimous vote by his 10 officers on the contrary.
After the Jenkintown Borough Police Department has been under its fair share of scrutiny over the past several weeks. The department’s union, the Jenkintown Police Benevolent Association, issued a vote of “No Confidence” in the borough’s police chief, Thomas Scott, on Sept. 25. The action was taken after an internal voting process of the department’s officers.
However, the Jenkintown Borough Council opted to counter the effort by offering a “Vote of Support” in its monthly meeting.
The 134-year-old police department has been facing potential closure, with the borough’s leadership seeking to outsource its needs to nearby Abington or Cheltenham. In previous meetings, the borough council has said that its around $1 million expenditure makes up a large portion of the borough’s suffering financial budget.
However, those speaking at the council meeting’s public comment on Oct. 22’s sessions had plenty to say about the Vote of Support before it was even presented.
“Tonight, you’re holding a petty, ceremonial vote to support the police chief,” said Taylor Casey, who resides in the Bever Hill condo building. “This vote is nothing more than a sham.”
Casey called the council’s response a “slap in the face” and a “meaningless political stunt” despite the officers’ reasons for their unanimous vote. In its letter announcing its No Confidence declaration, the union’s members said that Scott has “engaged in a course of action designed to intentionally undermine the morale and work environment of the department, and to jeopardize the safety of the officers who work in it,” according to the released letter.
The officers continued, stating that Scott has “publicly claimed responsibility for initiating conversation to dismantle” their department and “initiated steps to do so.”
While costs have been the expressed concern of borough council members, the union’s letter said that Scott was to blame for rising expenses, detailing the chief’s failure to hire part-time assistance, creating “unnecessary overtime and financial burden on the borough,” as well as filing grievances and adding to labor costs.
Additionally, the officers outlined that Scott had not pursued accreditation for the department, which JPD had held for the previous 19 years. A change to the minimum officer requirement also forced officers to patrol areas alone, “creating an egregious officer safety issue,” the letter said.
Casey called the motion “personal” and showed that the council no longer wanted to act for public safety nor for saving borough money. She said no neighboring municipalities would want to “touch this dumpster fire of a situation.”
Jackie Connolly also spoke during the public meeting, stating that in her 50 years in the borough, the men and women on the JPD had protected and served her, and she asked if there was a personal reason the council did not investigate the vote of No Confidence.
“We’re voters. We’re your constituents,” said Connolly. “You’re supposed to be representing us in each and every ward.” She continued to say her disappointment in the borough’s mayor who released, she said, the JPBA vote to news outlets before the community was aware of it.
“Herein lies the problem that we’re all really concerned about,” said Connolly. “Transparency. Why are so many things going on in this town that none of us know about? We’re the ones dealing out the tax money every year to pay for all of this.”
Maureen Lucak, of Cedar Street, said that the two previous speakers “do not speak for me, and they do not speak for other people in the borough.” She offered no additional words in support of the chief.
Another local resident said he was concerned over the one-man patrols, stating having two would be far safer for the officers. Yet another woman provided lines from letters of the borough’s police force’s family members, wishing for the comments to be entered into the record. She said these community residents worried not only for their family member’s safety, but for their financial futures, as well.
Another Bever Hill resident urged council against its vote of support, stating it would add to the “adversarial” nature of the council’s relationship with its own police department.
The council’s president, Jay Conners, asked the borough’s legal counsel if the vote could be moved up in the meeting, out of the order as it was presented on the agenda. Counsel advised that if a motion was made to amend the agenda, that vote could be moved up on the timeline.
Conners then moved to do so, and the board unanimously approved the amended agenda.
“I make a motion that Jenkintown Borough Council voice our Vote of Confidence in and support for Police Chief Thomas Scott due to his ongoing efforts to increase accountability, productivity, and professionalism within the Jenkintown Police Department,” said Conners.
The motion was quickly seconded by Ward 3 Councilwoman Alexandria Khalil, who also offered her thoughts prior to the vote.
“I just want to thank Chief Scott for addressing some of the issues of conduct with professionalism, for caring about the community,” she said. “This community owes you such a debt of gratitude, if only they would take the time to know. Thank you for all that you have done.”
She said she as proud to be “one of the votes to hire Chief Scott.”
“You are one of the best things to ever happen to Jenkintown,” said Khalil. “Thank you.”
Council Vice President Christian Soltysiak said she too was on the hiring committee that voted to bring on Scott, adding that borough brought on the chief knowing they had “a major ship to right.”
“We knew we had to find the right person who would be strong enough to do that,” said Soltysiak. “Chief Scott has gone above and beyond, and I’m very happy that we have him on board.”
Councilman David Ballard said he had also known that the discussions on the police department as a whole began in 2019 and 2020.
“I agree completely that Chief Scott was the correct hire for the borough,” he said, noting Scott works to “make the changes necessary in the borough.”
Councilwoman Joanne Bruno, who was also on the Scott hiring committee, said she offers her full support to the chief.
“As part of the process, the hiring committee offered to interview each police officer individually, and approximately half of them chose to talk with us,” said Bruno. “We opened the process to the police officers to get their input, and quite frankly, less than 50% responded.”
Councilwoman Deborra Sines-Pancoe, who attended the meeting virtually, said she also is “in support of Chief Scott.”
“We have been very careful to ask Chief Scott to work on accountability,” said Pancoe. “We are in a contract year, and it has been a very difficult negotiation. There have been personnel issues that we cannot discuss in the public for fear of lawsuits. And so, I think this council has worked very hard to be respectful of the officers and of the police force as a whole, and we very much appreciate the work that Chief Scott has been doing to ‘right the ship.’”
Mayor Gabriel Lerman said that, while the chief has acted as the council had hoped, it is not as though he acted “independently and in a vacuum.”
“He was specifically tasked with jobs related to the police department,” said the mayor. “He has done them. He is doing them. They are at the direction of the borough. They are not his actions. And we support them.”
Kahlil said with the severity of incidents in the borough, the chief has acted with honor.
“The things that Chief Scott has had to order, unfortunately. Can you imagine having to order his officers to patrol traffic? That I find the most disturbing,” she said.
“We’ve had two individuals get killed on Old York Road,” she said. “That is real.”
While some members of the public then interrupted her speaking, Kahlil said atop questions of, “Did you ask the officers?” that “This chief ordered them to do it.”
“What he’s done has directly improved the safety of this community,” she continued. “You laugh. What he has done has made sure that there are people actually working. I am not lying here. I am not exaggerating. This man has saved this town.”
Councilwoman Maxine Marlowe asked that she may stand to show her support for the chief as the council took its vote. Kahlil said she would join her, as well.
The council voted unanimously in favor of the “Vote of Support” for Chief Scott.
Talks are said to continue regarding the department's future. No action was taken on that matter in the recent meeting.
