York County Police Partner with our Community
Photo: Springettsbury Chief of Police and York East Rotarian, Dan Stump.
At the Heritage Hills weekly breakfast meeting of York East Rotary on Oct 31, 2017, Daniel Stump, Chief of Police Springettsbury Township and York East Rotarian, spoke about the current status of law enforcement across the Nation, its impact on York County and how local police in our county are responding.
He sighted that current anti-police sentiment across the country has frequently made police a target just because of their uniform and has a negative impact on being able to recruit individuals into law enforcement. Springettsbury Township is very typical of most communities (88%) in the U.S. wherein, the police departments have less than 49 officers. Specifically, for 26,000 residents, Springettsbury has 32 police officers. In our county, the various police departments are striving to build relationships within our community, to establish credibility and fairness, treat people humanely and uphold the law. Regular meetings of our police with pastors, community leaders from Crispus Attucks and even seeking input from Department of Justice has transpired. This has resulted in the adoption of a policy known as “Procedural Justice” by the law enforcement community. This policy enforces the need for law enforcement to treat people with respect and dignity and be the ultimate professional. It’s also an individual’s right to express themselves and to have their rights respected and protected. Chief Stump recently spoke at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference on the creation of partnerships and relationships with Federal partners and the community. Springettsbury Township Police Department was also the recipient of the Heart of Change award from Crispus Attucks this year. He summarized by saying that creating relations across diversity builds bridges of trust and street credibility as we stand united working together to make our community stronger and better.