Cass Supervisors Bad-mouth Police Dept. They Disbanded in May

At the end of May, Cass Township Supervisors voted to disband their municipal police department.

Just before and after that happened, the township insinuated that events surrounding what it calls an ongoing investigation were the driving reasons for that vote.

That investigation involved money allegedly missing from the police evidence room and a form allegedly filed with a department of the state government by an officer whom the supervisors believed had previously resigned from the force.

It was that form being filed by the purportedly resigned officer that prompted solicitor Mark Semanchik to recommend to the supervisors in February to initially suspend the entire police operation in Cass Township.

Well, at Wednesday night’s monthly meeting, that supposedly missing (and now found) money and that form were barely discussed as the reasons for voting to disband the police.

Instead, the supervisors engaged in a lengthy discussion with curious residents – some of whom were asking why the force was disbanded and if they’d be brought back – with a whole new set of reasons for that vote in May.

Semanchik responded to a question inquiring why the police force was disbanded.

He said, “By prior action of the board, they disbanded the police department.”

That non-answer wasn’t good enough for the person asking and it sparked the lengthier discussion on the police force, as the supervisors see it, and how the residents feel about it.

Two residents said they felt “like sitting ducks” during a recent lengthy power outage in one part of Cass Township. They said their power was out for about 60 consecutive hours and felt vulnerable without police protection when it got dark.

Supervisor Michael Sorokach told these concerned residents “Honestly, there wouldn’t be police protection anyhow” because the township didn’t have 24-hour coverage from its local force.

That seemed to spark a talking point from the supervisors about how inefficient they believe their police force operated. And that, they seem to now suggest, was a driving reason for voting to disband the unit back in May.

It started with Semanchik, who again attempted to explain why the local department was disbanded.

Semanchik said, “It’s come up every month for the last six months and even long before that. Back at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, the board looked at the police department and how efficient and what kind of protection the residents were getting for the cost of the department.

“In 2022, and Madame Secretary, please correct me if I get the numbers wrong, I think based on a review of hours spent in W2s that were issued for the members of the police department, their service actually covered about 30% of the time. Seventy percent of the coverage was being provided by the State Police. That was two years ago. Those numbers continued on in ’23 and in ’24, at the beginning of the year, we had some issues,” he said.

However, after the meeting, The Canary asked Supervisors Chairwoman Brenda Helt who is in charge of the police department. After all, she said this alleged inefficiency with the Cass Township police had been going on since at least late-2022 and continued through all of 2023.

“I believe there were issues before we took the reins,” Helt said, who has already served for 6 years and just won re-election for another 2 years in 2023.

She said the supervisors were in charge of the police department so we followed up asking what did the board do to address their claims of the force being inefficient.

Helt said she spoke with then-Police Chief Ger Daley about the inefficiencies the board perceived of his department. She said Daley told her that he’d work on the issues but, according to Helt, it never really happened.

“Things were going great but then they just kind of went spiraling downhill,” Helt said.

She said that downward spiral began about 2 years ago and it came to a head when there was that alleged incident with a supposedly-resigned officer filing a for with a department in state government purporting to be a member of the Cass Township force.

The Alleged Inefficiencies of the Cass Township Police Dept.

The supervisors weren’t shy on Wednesday when it came to talking about the problems they had with their police department.

While they talked up the coverage provided by Pennsylvania State Police, residents in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting seemed to suggest that local coverage was needed.

Helt said, “As far as the police issues go, the State Police have been in the area more so, believe it or not, than we had a police officer on duty.”

She went further on that point during the back-and-forth with residents, suggesting that police officers hired by the township were just there to collect hours. But at the same time, there was never anyone on duty.

She said, “We hardly ever had a police officer here. They would pick up shifts. They wouldn’t show up. They would come in for a couple hours and punch out and leave. Nobody knew when they were here. Nobody told us when they were coming.

“How many times did you see the police officers out and about? How many times did you see the Cass Township police car out and about? They go down to the Forestville playground and park across from my house so I could see them,” she said.

Supervisor Michael Sorokach III echoed that point about the lack of coverage in comments he made. He said, “I’m here since June of ’22 and more often than not, it was more aggravating coming in here because there was nobody on duty. You look at the schedule and it says such-and-such is gonna be here and he didn’t show or he punched in at 10 and left at 2.

“Last year, there was an accident … and State (Police) was there and I came in here and the cop was sitting in here on the computer. He didn’t get called. Now, why didn’t he get called? Probably because he didn’t report to the Comm Center. We are paying him an hourly rate. That’s the thing,” Sorokach said. “I tried to get them to park the damn cruiser out in front just to deter speeding and I was ignored. They did what they wanted to do.”

Helt also claimed that a police officer hadn’t patrolled the Highridge Business Park in a few years, as a previous officer once supposedly did.

“We have not written a ticket up in Highridge in I can’t tell you how long … a few years. That stopped years ago. We had a police officer here that used to be up there all the time and he used to generate a lot of money. He left and nobody seemed to follow in his footsteps,” she said.

The Pay Raise and Retention Issues

Supervisors said that two years ago, they raised the hourly rate for police officers by $4.

But that didn’t change anything within the department, Sorokach said.

“Not one damn thing changed with the operation. They got more money,” he said.

Helt added, “That is very true. They still didn’t pick up hours. It’s not like we didn’t try. We tried working with them. I called Cass Township a cash cow.”

The pay issue created a bit of a problem with Cass Township being able to find officers to work there, supervisors said.

Supervisor Elvin Brennan Jr. said, “If we pay $23 an hour, the next one up the road, they’re paying $25. They don’t come here; they go up there.”

Helt said the issue with not being able to get officers to work there isn’t for lack of trying.

“Have you seen how many police officers have come through here? A lot. It’s not a lack on our part of trying to get somebody in here,” she said.

A Future Cass Township Police Department?

Residents questioned whether the township would ever reform its police department in the future.

Helt said, “It’s something we’re discussing.”

And Sorokach said, “Never say never.”

Helt asked residents in attendance whether or not they’d be willing to absorb a tax increase to pay for a police force. When she did that, one person told them to put it on the ballot as a referendum. And about half the people in attendance raised their hand indicating they would pay more in taxes.

She added that nothing in that regard will happen until things are “finalized” with the police department the supervisors just disbanded in May.

NOTE: The Canary did reach out to Daley, who said he’s been advised by his attorney not to comment on matters related to Cass Township.

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