Cops may merge

MILFORDnMilford Township Supervisor and Borough Police Chief Gary Williams said Monday that he will be attending a Sept. 29 brainstorming session on combining the three police departments serving Milford and Matamoras boroughs and Westfall Township. Westfall police Chief Mark Moglia said that there has been talk about combining the three departments for several years. Moglia organized the session to prepare questions for a state official who will meet with officials and the public in October. Ronald Stern, of the Governor's Center for local Government Services , is expected to address questions about issues like officers pensions, staffing, "whose building do we work out of? Those are just things I can think of off the top of my head," Moglia said. The issue prompted a state study in 2003, which was not well received locally. The study called for one patrol vehicle, per shift, to cover the area of all three existing departments. Moglia called that conclusion "terrible," saying that increasing traffic flow and growth in the area requires "at least two" patrols on any shift. Additionally, he said the combined force serving Milford Township would prompt additional assistance calls from people living in the township, who he said often will not now call state police because of the longer anticipated response time. The state police, based in Blooming Grove, would continue to serve Dingman Township, Westfall currently has six full time police officers, while Milford and Matamoras both have two each.