The Camden County Colonial Alliance, which is made up of seven area municipalities, including Haddonfield, recently decided to look into another cost-saving initiative — combining certain services in police departments.
Haddonfield Mayor Jeff Kasko gave an update on the request for proposal to share services with other alliance municipalities during last week’s meeting.
Kasko said three proposals were recently submitted and the alliance must look at the proposals before making a final decision. He said it might not be logical for these municipalities to move forward with the request, considering the amount of money it might cost.
Ronin Security Solutions proposed the evaluation would cost $191,245, while CGR, Inc. estimated $98,000 and Matrix Consulting Group estimated $45,000. Kasko said he isn’t sure if the municipalities would have enough funds combined to move forward with the study.
The towns involved in the alliance are Haddonfield, Collingswood, Haddon Township, Mount Ephraim, Oaklyn, Haddon Heights and Audubon. He said these towns have some similarities, making sharing certain services easier than sharing with larger townships such as Cherry Hill or Voorhees. Although the seven towns are part of the alliance, Kasko said Haddon Heights decided to step away from exploring this option.
Borough commissioners have been involved in the alliance for the past few years, sharing services such as public works equipment and machinery, municipal court expenses, off-duty policy work, police emergency coverage, fire emergency coverage, purchasing of materials and supplies, insurance, liability insurance, most municipal services with Tavistock Borough, facilities/fields maintenance, equipment and personnel with the Haddonfield Board of Education.
“It’s really an ongoing discussion that we have had to see what we can share,” he said.
Sharing services is not new for Haddonfield, but eliminating the borough’s control over the police force is not an option. He said the request is simply looking into other cost-saving initiatives.
“When it comes to police, it’s more complicated,” Kasko said.
Sharing police services might not happen because of cost, but Kasko said it’s important that the borough explore all cost-saving options and possibly prepare for what might be mandated by the state in the future.
“It just gives us information to make an informative, educated decision,” he said, adding this request does not mean the borough is interested in joining the county police department. “We don’t need a local beat patrolled by the county.”
According to Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen, the county budgeted $62 million for 401 officers and 100 civilian staff as well as 36 dispatchers.
The county police might be suitable for the needs of Camden, but not all municipalities believe the move to a regional police force is efficient for the needs of the entire county.
“We still want to have our own police department,” Kasko said.
