Supervisors: no plan to add additional permanent police officers
By P.J. D’Annunzio, Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com
KENNETT — In the wake of this month’s incident involving the township police chief colliding with a Delaware woman and leaving the scene of the accident — both attributed to the chief’s medical issues — township officials said this week that the long-term plan is to continue with just one police officer and not permanently augment the force, although some in the community question the wisdom of that choice.
Chief Albert McCarthy is currently on light duty — off patrol work — while waiting for final results of medical tests. According to Township Supervisor Michael Elling, the plan is to hire a temporary replacement for McCarthy’s patrol duties until he is ready to resume his full duty. However, if the chief, 60, is unable to resume his patrol duty, the township will be forced to look in a different direction for its policing.
“If Albert is unable to perform his duties in any way, shape, or form, I’m sure he will be the first to want to resign. If that is the case, and that is very hypothetical, we would look to hire a new police officer,” Elling said.
But critics question whether that plan makes sense — and whether the township should have been depending on just one man to police the township.
Scudder Stevens, who is challenging incumbent supervisor Allan Falcoff for Township Supervisor in the Nov. 8 election, said he thinks that this incident is just one of many examples of mismanagement in the township.
“I have been concerned all along about the township hiring one police officer,” he said, “It was clear to me that there was going to be a need to add more police to this force sooner rather than later. Adding police at this point seems to be a logical extension at this point…but I’m very pessemistic that that is going to happen.”
“In the beginning of my campaign I’d taken the position that we should not have hired Albert alone,” Stevens continued, “We should have continued with effective policing with a combination of the State Police and the Borough of Kennett Square. In fact, when Albert was hired, the Borough was under the impression that they were in the process of negotiating a new contract and in a matter of three days or less the Township hired Albert. They should’ve stayed with the Borough and the State Police.”
But township officials remain confident in McCarthy, assuming he is healthy enough to resume full duty, and said they feel they are getting better protection since going to a township force, instead of contracting with Kennett Square, as the township did before 2007. The decision, they say, whether McCarthy should be back on the road should be left to medical professionals.
“We think that medical professionals will be the ones to determine that [McCarthy’s fitness for duty],” Elling said, who contradicted other media reports that McCarthy is not allowed to drive for up to six months after suffering a seizure. “Though he has not been told legally that he cannot drive, he is not driving. He’s got plenty to do administratively and we’re moving to hire a temporary person who is able to drive and is a licensed policeman. We haven’t signed any contract yet but that person will be on a part time basis. In the meantime if something happens, some new evidence comes, we’ll make the decision with what to do at that time.”
The controversy stems from an Oct. 4 incident, when McCarthy, driving the township’s police cruiser, collided with the rear end of another vehicle on Route 82, at 12:33 p.m., and according to State Police, continued driving. McCarthy crashed into Paula Sharpe of Hockessin, Del. Sharpe, the wife of a Wilmington Police detective, immediately called 911 when McCarthy left the scene.Both were treated for minor injuries at Christiana Hospital.
State Police incident report says that McCarthy was “suffering from a medical condition,” which in turn caused him lose focus and strike the back end of the vehicle in front of him. The State Police also state that McCarthy was in no way attempting to evade responsibility and he immediately returned after hearing the 911 call.
Eyewitness accounts confirm that McCarthy appeared to be unwell upon his return to the scene of the accident.
McCarthy faces no charges in the incident. The township’s marked patrol cruiser suffered some damage and us currently under repairs — but should be ready to return to service within a week or so. The township also has an unmarked police cruiser available for police use.
Dialog on this issue is expected to continue as McCarthy is slated to appear before the Township Board of Supervisors at their meeting, Monday night.
