By AMBER SOUTH
@ShipNewsGirl
SHIPPENSBURG — Plans are underway to give borough police primary jurisdiction over emergency incidents at an elementary school in a neighboring township.
Shippensburg Borough Council decided Tuesday to move forward with an agreement between the borough, Shippensburg Township and Shippensburg Area School District to make Shippensburg Police the first responder to all 911 calls from Shippensburg Area Intermediate School.
SAIS, for fourth and fifth graders, is on Hollar Avenue in Shippensburg Township. Its location outside of the borough means it is in the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania State Police, Carlisle. All 911 calls are dispatched through Cumberland County.
“Because of the distance away of the state police there is the possibility that state police could be 30 to 40 minutes away from the intermediate school should there be an event there,” said Mayor Bruce Hockersmith, who as the head of the police department, has been involved in preliminary meetings on this subject. “We want to get an agreement in place in which borough police will be dispatched first in an emergency situation.”
Currently, borough police are second in line behind state police; however, state police may ask borough police to respond to the scene until they can get there, Hockersmith said.
Giving borough police primary jurisdiction will eliminate the “layers” of communication between county dispatch and state police, and state police and borough police, said Shippensburg Police Chief Fred Scott. That means it will take less time for police to respond.
All of council was supportive of reaching such an agreement. Some were concerned about what would constitute an emergency call and that borough police could be bombarded with nonemergency calls from the school, which prompted Hockersmith to clarify that the agreement would only cover 911 calls.
The agreement’s impact on police response to incidents inside the borough would depend on the specifics of each situation, Scott said. Covering a minor traffic accident may not be affected at all, but a major incident requiring more manpower could be. In the end, it’s all about prioritizing, Scott said.
“We will do whatever the council requires,” Scott said when asked whether he supports a potential agreement.
Of SASD’s six schools, SAIS is the only in a situation like this. Four of the schools sit inside the borough, and Shippensburg University Police serve Grace B. Luhrs University Elementary School because it is part of the campus.
SAIS sits beside James Burd Elementary. The borough-township line essentially runs down the middle of that building, but it is considered part of the borough because the main office sits on the borough side.
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Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4771.