Jenkintown Police Benevolent Association issues vote of ‘no confidence’ in police chief

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The Jenkintown Police Benevolent Association held a vote of “no confidence” in Chief Thomas Scott, accusing the borough’s top cop of undermining the morale within the department.

The union informed Jenkintown Borough Council and Mayor Gabriel Lerman on Sept. 25 about its vote. The letter addressed to the borough alleged that Scott is jeopardizing the safety of police officers by acting against overtime guidelines and minimum officer requirements.

“He has demonstrated a complete lack of care and consideration for his officers and repeatedly shown a lack of action in bringing about positive change for the department,” the letter reads.

Scott disputed the accusations. He said he was brought in 2022 to alleviate mismanagement issues and change the department’s culture. Scott asserted he’s made “every effort” to take care of his employees. He views the JPBA’s claims as a direct attack on his ability to perform the job after 28 years in law enforcement.

“I am truly a dedicated professional who cares about us providing the best services to the people we serve,” Scott said. “I don’t appreciate people attacking my character and my integrity, making it seem like I had some ulterior motive.”

Council President Jay Conners told WHYY News that he and his colleagues have “nothing but confidence” in the police chief. In a press release, Conners categorized the JBPA’s accusations as an “effort to smear” Scott.

The vote comes as borough officials consider dissolving the department and leaning on a neighboring municipality for police services. Scott has sided with borough officials. The union is opposed to the plan.

The inquiry into disbanding the department has sparked controversy over the past year. Scott said it’s played a significant part in the growing rift between him and the union.

JPBA President Anthony Matteo told WHYY News in an emailed statement that the journey to get to this point has been “incredibly draining and stressful to officers.”

“It’s regrettable that the borough took the stance without speaking to the union as a whole or individually after finding out the union voted unanimously [with] no confidence in his ability, but it’s par for the course,” Matteo said.

Jenkintown spends half of its budget on policing. Borough officials are still intent on dissolving the department

Jenkintown’s approximately 4,000 residents pay the sixth-highest municipal taxes and the second-highest school taxes in Montgomery County. The half-square-mile dedicates more than 50% of its annual $5 million budget to policing. The borough employs about a dozen officers.

“We’ve done many things to try and improve the police department, but the culture has been one of the biggest struggles because we just been dealing with a lot of pushback,” Scott said.

Borough officials, including Scott, believe the ballooning dollar figure to be unsustainable. They assert they can get better services at a reduced cost from a larger bordering township, such as  Abington and Cheltenham.

“We have every intention of moving forward with dissolving our police department and contracting with another department,” Conners said. “Who that department is? I don’t know. When it all will happen? I can’t even say that — but that is our intention.”

Officers say they will suffer if the borough decides to abandon its department — families could lose their primary breadwinner. Some residents in opposition feel it could jeopardize public safety.

“It causes incredible amounts of stress on top of what’s already a stressful job,” Matteo said. “It’s been essentially a fact-finding journey for us because of the lack of transparency they have not only with the community, but the officers they employ and pretend to care for.”

Conners said the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development reached out to the borough and offered to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on disbanding the police department. According to Conners, the study is not yet finalized.

“The more we can speak to it, the better,” Conners said. “The fact that DCED reached out to us is an indication that we’re on the right path.”

Jenkintown isn’t the first community to consider closing its department to save money. The relationship between the borough and the police union is further complicated because the entities are deadlocked on negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement.

The previous contract expired last December.