Morris townships in Washington and Greene counties to share police force
Morris Township Police Department in Greene County will begin providing police protection across the Washington-Greene county line in neighboring Morris Township
Beginning next Friday, the recently formed police department on the southern side of the county line will be working in the identically named township in Washington County.
Supervisors of both townships signed a six-month contract Wednesday allowing for the department to patrol and respond to emergency calls in both communities.
“I’m definitely excited for this opportunity,” Morris Township police Chief Michael Natale said. “It’s a great way for communities to increase police presence in the area without killing budgets. Nobody’s losing on this deal.”
The township in Washington County will use public safety money to pay Morris Township in Greene County $3,744 per month for 24 hours per week of patrols and emergency responses. The township in Greene County will use that money to help fund the police department, Natale said.
Kathy Lesnock, secretary of Morris Township in Washington County, said the township wanted additional police patrol because of the amount of traffic and speeding in the village of Prosperity.
“It’s a small community,” she said. “You’ve got families and older people and sometimes it’s hard to even cross the street. We’re serviced by state police, but they are stretched pretty thin.”
Natale said he is in the process of hiring another part-time officer, giving the department, which is based in Nineveh, a total of three part-time officers in addition to his full-time chief position.
“We’re going to patrol both townships together,” he said. “I want all of my officers to be familiar with both communities so we can all handle calls in both townships.”
The 911 systems are different in each county, Natale said, but when his department first opened earlier in February, they set up their radios to be able to respond to both counties. He said they will work to deal with two sets of county courthouse offices and two different magistrates.
“It’s not impossible,” he said. “There will probably be a little confusion in the beginning, but once we get into the system of things, it will work out well.”