Residents reflect on Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police
On Monday, Aug. 7, Seven Fields Borough Council approved a resolution to begin dissolving the Evans City-Seven Regional Police department, which has served both boroughs since 2013.
As part of the council meeting, borough council also approved seeking short-term coverage from Cranberry Township Police Department, which partnered with the borough before it merged with Evans City.
Coinciding with the resolution, Evans City Borough Council heard a proposal from Jackson Township on Monday evening that could see the borough trade its reservoir property for police services.
Good, bad or indifferent, residents from the communities weighed in Wednesday, Aug. 9, outside their respective community centers — with many in support of moving on.
Beating the heat outside Seven Fields Town Park Pool on Wednesday evening, residents Don and Rita Winter reflected on the Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police Department.
“To me, it just didn’t make sense from the beginning,” Rita said. “We’re not connected, it just didn’t make any sense.”
Separated by both Forward and Cranberry Townships, the drive between the municipal buildings in the boroughs is approximately 15 minutes.
By contrast, Cranberry Township’s municipal building is only 10 minutes from Seven Fields.
“I really like the merger with Cranberry,” Don said. “Seven Fields is nowhere near Evans City.”
Additionally, Don said that there has been noticeable dip in police presence with the department down to just two officers.
“They used to come through,” he said. “We have not seen them since.”
Rita added that Evans City’s efforts toward a partnership with Jackson Township also seemed to be a better fit for the municipality.
“And if Evans City merges with Jackson, that just makes sense,” Rita said.
Residents Jim and Mary Paterson said one of the foremost problems for the regional department seemed to be its leadership, but they had not personally experienced any negative experiences with the department.
“We’re just like typical residents, we just sit back and wait to see what happens,” Jim said. “I think our council is at least paying attention.”
Lounging at EDCO Park on Wednesday afternoon, Evans City resident Candace Guthrie said the dwindling police presence in the boroughs has directly affected her life.
“I live right on Main Street and I never see police in town,” she said. “I actually had a domestic violence situation two months ago and called the police and had to wait for them to call me back through the state police.”
Guthrie said she waited over an hour in the situation.
“The local police knew about the situation, but with them being in Seven Fields the state police are being brought in,” she said. “Something bad could have really happened in that hour, and that’s why I think we need our own local department.”
She said she believed splitting from Seven Fields was a necessary move, and that partnership with Jackson Township would be the most reasonable solution.
“If we had to be with somebody, Jackson Township would be the one — they’re the closest,” Guthrie said. “But definitely not with Seven fields anymore, that was all a mess.”
Resident Shelly Harlan said she was open to a partnership with Jackson Township but was uncomfortable with the idea of forfeiting the borough’s reservoir property.
“It just doesn’t sit right with me,” she said.
Cindy Caldwell, resident, said the proposal “surprised” her.
“I’d like to see the details of the agreement before they would enter into something like that,” she said.
She said it did have potential though, believing that the only alternative for the borough would include raising taxes.
“We’re the oldest community and we’re landlocked, so I don’t know how you would get more money except for through our taxes,” she said. “And we’re already some of the highest taxes.”
