Lower Macungie Township has its own police department — and its name is Pennsylvania State Police.
That’s a message Lt. Jonathan Nederostek, commander of the Fogelsville state police station, wants to get out to township residents.
He said he gets upset when he hears Lower Macungie residents say they don’t have a local police department.
“We are the local police department; I am the police chief,” said Nederostek.
The station commander made his comments while presenting state police statistics for Lower Macungie in 2014 at Thursday night’s township meeting.
He suggested people have to get away from the notion that it is a burden or a problem for state police to cover Lower Macungie.
“We enjoy covering Lower Macungie Township,” declared Nederostek.
He noted the number of state police cars patrolling the township has been increased and mentioned he hopes to establish a satellite police station in one of its schools.
“We are very adequately staffed,” he told township commissioners. “We can cover the township very easily. It’s not a burden whatsoever.”
“We’ll make sure the community understands you are our local police,” said Ryan Conrad, chairman of the five commissioners.
Whether Lower Macungie needs its own police force has been debated for many years.
In February 2014, commissioners unanimously voted to stick with state police for protection in the township — rejecting the idea of creating a Lower Macungie police department.
That vote came after commissioners had an $8,000 study done on police coverage options for Lower Macungie.
That study did not make recommendations, but one of its findings was that creating a township police department would cost up to $5 million.
The study noted the township gets free coverage from state police — “a large, well-equipped, well-trained and highly respected police force.”
Nederostek, who is starting his twenty-third year with the state police, has been stationed at Fogelsville in neighboring Upper Macungie Township for 18 months.
But he noted he’s been there before.
“The first 16 years of my career were at Fogelsville.”
He also said he is a former Lower Macungie resident.
“This township means a lot to me. I lived in the township for 10 years.”
Warning to residents
During his presentation, the station commander said vehicle break-ins are a continuing crime trend in the township.
Most occur between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
“It’s usually a crime of opportunity,” said Nederostek.
“Residents are leaving the vehicles unlocked. Suspects are just rummaging through and getting whatever they can.
“We also recently have seen a spike in theft from motor vehicles where they’re actually smashing the windows to get in. That’s because residents are leaving valuables in plain view.
“We want to remind residents to remain vigilant, don’t leave your cars unlocked and don’t leave anything valuable in plain view.”
Statistics
Nederostek told township officials: “I’m proud to present these statistics to you because the statistics are lower than they were in the previous year, which is a very good thing.”
In 2014, he said, state police investigated 5,077 incidents in Lower Macungie. “That compares to about 5,500 the year before.”
He said such incidents can range from assisting motorists to investigating major crimes such as homicides.
He said 31 residential burglaries were investigated in the township in 2014, down from 34 the previous year.
State police also investigated 367 thefts last year, compared to 464 in 2013.
He explained 123 of those 367 theft were retail thefts, adding the majority of them occurred in Walmart, followed by Kohl’s.
State police investigated 496 township crashes in 2014, compared to 541 in 2013.
He said 191 of those crashes were non-reportable “fender benders where no one was injured.” But he added: “We also investigated three fatal collisions in the township.”
Nederostek reported 107 driving-under-the-influence arrests were made in Lower Macungie in 2014, up from 99 in 2013.
“When the troopers are not investigating some criminal incidents, they have more time to be proactive in the township,” said the commander. “I think that’s why you’re seeing that result.”
He said 84 of those arrests were based on state troopers proactively pulling over cars. The other 23 were crashes.
He also reported state police issued 1,832 traffic citations in Lower Macungie last year, but did not mention how that compared to 2013.
Comments and questions
Unfortunately, because of Thursday’s snowstorm, very few residents were at the township meeting to hear the state police officer’s presentation.
In response to a question from Commissioner Jim Lancsek, Nederostek said he has seen no signs of gang activity in Lower Macungie.
Commissioner Brian Higgins asked if state police ever ask police departments from neighboring municipalities to cover incidents in Lower Macungie.
Nederostek said he’s not aware of state police ever asking another police department “to come into the township to handle something for us.”
He said there might be times when a police department from a bordering municipality “will come over,” such as if a traffic collision occurs right on the township border.
“That’s a common courtesy that we see and we do the same for them.”
Commissioner Ron Beitler raised the issue of coverage when he said one of the most common questions commissioners hear — “not only from our residents but from neighbors” — is that providing service to Lower Macungie is a burden for state police.
Beitler added: “I understand that’s not the case.”
“It’s not a burden,” confirmed Nederostek.
“Lower Macungie Township is a large amount of our caseload and our workload. So a large amount of our resources is expended in the township.”
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