Jenkintown Borough Council voted unanimously on Wednesday, May 28 to pass a new contract with the Jenkintown Police Benevolent Association.

In February 2024, news first surfaced that the future of Jenkintown’s police force was uncertain due to financial concerns. Jenkintown’s borough council voted during a July 2023 public meeting to contract with Bellevue Communication, a public relations firm that submitted the proposal outlining a public relations strategy if and when Jenkintown made a decision to dissolve its police department and contract with a neighboring police force.

Council President Jay Conners previously told Glenside Local that the borough began privately considering contracting out its police services during the spring of 2023. 

The once-volatile situation has been handled well, according to Conners.

“We finally came to an agreement which satisfies both parties. We believe it’s a reasonable, rational contract,” Conners said on Tuesday. “They’re getting fair pay, good benefits, and training opportunities, so I think we’re in good shape for the next couple of years.”

The previous contract expired in December 2023. Conners noted that the situation was “headed in the direction of arbitration, but we didn’t want to go in that direction unless we had to. They came to us and said they’d like to talk again and work out some details,” he said. “Negotiations are never easy, but in the end, we got where we needed to be.”

Jenkintown Police Chief Tom Scott believes the contract settlement to be fair for all involved and highlighted the department’s efforts to reduce costs. One officer was furloughed due to financial constraints, which Scott expects to be the last staff reduction.

“Obviously the borough has had some financial challenges. We’ve reduced staff and we’re down to $410 per capita from $550 per capita,” he said. “It’s more feasible and sustainable. We’re looking towards the future and trying to limit our exposure. There was mismanagement in the past, so now people are making good, sound choices.”

Chief Scott also pointed out that officers’ compensation has seen 3.5% increases along with bonuses and the potential for medical coverage upon retirement.

“They didn’t have that option before. There was a report that highlighted the mismanagement and a $120,000 liability when I first came here. They were accruing Kelly time which was outside of the contract,” he said. “We’re about half of that now. We’ll reduce that to zero by the end of the contract, which is a huge accomplishment. We have a few more officers that can work with us to get that number down even more. It’s been a collaborative approach.

The contract will expire in December 2027. The borough released today a statement on the CBA ratification and associated signed contract:

Jenkintown Borough is pleased to announce the successful ratification and signing of a new collective bargaining agreement between the Borough and the Jenkintown Police Benevolent Association. 

This new agreement covers the years 2024 through 2027 and benefits our community as well as the members of the PBA. Both parties have worked hard to reach this agreement and we thank the Jenkintown PBA for being collaborative in finding solutions to needed contractual updates which bring us greater consistency with comparable municipalities in our area. 

Some highlights include: 

• Rectifying conflicts between the Fair Labor Standards Act and the accrual and banking of specific types of time off
• Agreement on staffing/scheduling that fits the needs of the Jenkintown community 
• Moving to a more fair and balanced approach to compensation for time related to training, opening the pathway for increased and modernized training for all members of the Department

This new CBA also provides fair pay and good benefits, opportunities to learn new skills that support 21st century policing policies, attention to health and wellbeing, and ensures that our officers are provided with what they need in order to do the job right. In addition to the new CBA, many of the JPD policies have recently been updated and continue to be revised. In combination, this new agreement and updated policies will continue to foster a culture of high performance and accountability.

Jenkintown Borough remains steadfast in its commitment to providing all public safety services with the support needed to ensure the safety and security of all residents and visitors to the Borough. This new collective bargaining agreement is a testament to that commitment and is included as an attachment to this statement for full transparency to the community that we all serve. 

The signed CBA can be found below:

For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.