Matamoras, Westfall police join forces

Matamoras — The Matamoras Police Department and the Westfall Police Department ceased to exist as of Monday Jan. 7 at 12:01 a.m. as they joined forces to form the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department. There was an “open house” at Matamoras Borough Hall on Monday to celebrate this consolidation. Matamoras Mayor Richard Gassmann said, “I have been trying to accomplish this merge for 20 years.” He went on to say, “It will be a very cost-saving move for both townships. There will be no duplicate headquarters, only one police chief who will be supervising a larger force and together they will be more effective.” Sergeant David Zegarski, formerly of the Westfall Police Department said, “This is a good move and community residents will benefit greatly because there will be just one central department to take care of problems that arise.” Eastern Pike Regional Police Department’s new Chief Chad Stewart remarked, “We will provide better 24/7 coverage. Milford Borough is considering becoming part of our department. I expect this to happen in the next month or so.” Chief Stewart told the Courier this all came about because of the flood which took place this past June 27. The Westfall Police headquarters was severely damaged by flood waters and they began using the Matamoras Police headquarters to work out of. As the days and weeks progressed both departments found this to be beneficial situation. The merging of the two police departments became that much clearer and the idea for the merge was finalized last November. The new police force purchased all the office equipment, communication equipment, and guns from the former two departments. They have the five police cars from Westfall and three police cars from Matamoras. The township and borough sold all the equipment and vehicles to them for $1. Chief Stewart said they now have five full-time police officers and some part-timers. The assistant chief of the new force is Eric Stewart, brother of chief. There are two sergeants also, Gerald Pflanz II and David Zegarski. Chief Stewart spoke in an excited and happy tone as he told the Courier that he is looking forward to this new police force, additional training for officers. He said everyone is anxious to start. Mayor Gassmann said, “This is working out just right and the town supervisors and councilmen from both communities are very willing to give this merge a try. Both departments had older police cars and with state grants we will be able to ‘buy one new car and get another free’ which is a great deal. “We are also able to get a grant that will pay 75% of the chief’s salary the first year, 50% the second year, and 33 1/3% the third year. The chief’s salary is $50,000 and the patrol officers will be getting better wages also. Our part-timers will be getting $15 per hour which is higher than before. Our full-timers will be getting a raise also.” He added, “Patrolmen will be getting $36,000 per year to start and sergeants will start at $41,000 per year.” The Mission Statement of the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department is to “work in partnership with the residents and businesses of the community to provide a safe and secure environment through impartial police services by preserving the peace, reducing fear and enhancing the quality of life.” The overall mood at the open house was jovial with plenty of food to be eaten and lot’s of refreshments. All police officers in attendance were wearing new uniforms emblazoned with the new department insignia, a police force that they say will serve their community proudly.