Borough will keep its cops

Milford — After a brief final session of a three-month-long, continued public hearing Monday, borough officials voted to unanimously to keep the borough police force. “We decided to keep the status quo,” Borough Council President Matt Osterberg said. Osterberg, who had been a staunch supporter of disbanding the borough police and contracting with the new Eastern Pike Regional Police, said, “I still have questions about our part-time police officers, but (the regional department is) using part-timers, too. So maybe the best thing to do is to wait a while and see how they do.” The new force, combining the former Matamoras Borough and Westfall Township departments, is still in its first year. Last month, Milford officials postponed the decision to hear the outcome of acceptance votes in Matamoras and Westfall. Matamoras subsequently rejected Milford’s application, but Osterberg said that did not enter into the council vote. Borough residents had turned out in force at two prior sessions, opposing the move, which would have cost long-time Milford Chief Gary Williams his job.