York Area Regional Police responds to all emergencies in Red Lion, York County. But that may soon change. The borough's council is considering parting ways with the department and instead contracting with Pennsylvania State Police. Borough council members have until Thursday evening at the police commission to decide. FOX43 spoke with people in Red Lion who are not happy about it.
For more than a decade the department has responded to incidents in Red Lion. When Thomas Anderton caught a shoplifter in his store, the police arrived within minutes. But he's worried if the borough drops the department and joins forces with state police, that may all change.
"It's nice to know if you needed them they'd be around rather than waiting 10, 15 minutes for them to turn up," says Anderton, who owns Tom's Music Trade in Red Lion.
The Red Lion School District Superintendent shares the same fear, a lapse in response time.
"Stretching those state troopers that thin, I just think it's a recipe for a bad situation," says Scott Deisley, the Red Lion School District Superintendent.
A school resource officer from York Area Regional Police would remain at the school even if the borough parts ways with the department, but the concern stretches beyond the classroom.
"What happens when there's an issue across the street from one of our schools? And it takes PSP to show up, an hour and a half? It's not that PSP doesn't have the ability, it's that they only have so many officers for the entire county of York," says Joel Ogle, from the Red Lion School Board.