Lebanon County, Western Lebanon County Regional PDs to consider merger

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

The governing commissions for both Lebanon County Regional Police Department and Western Lebanon County Regional Police Department expressed willingness to move forward with a merger at an informational public meeting March 31. If further regionalization is pursued, it could occur as early as 2027.

LCRPD chief Tim Knight and WLCRPD chief Andrew Winters co-led a presentation overviewing the details of a potential merger.

Though these numbers are not final, the presentation estimated costs for a regionalized department at $7,531,173.89, to be divided between municipalities as follows:

• Annville Township: $1,204,987.82 (now $1,239,022.13)
• North Cornwall Township: $2,184,040.43 (now $2,310,302.35)
• North Lebanon Township: $2,184,040.43 (now $2,310,302.35)
• Palmyra Borough: $1,958,105.21 (now $2,038,567.61)

In response to a resident question, Knight (who would be the chief of a merged department) said costs would be calculated through a formula taking into account population and calls to service. When LCRPD formed, North Cornwall and North Lebanon townships agreed to split costs evenly, which is reflected in the above numbers.

LCRPD was formed at the start of 2025 in a merger between the police forces of North Lebanon and North Cornwall townships (also serving West Lebanon Township), now serving as a 24-officer department with a station in North Lebanon Township and a substation in North Cornwall Township. WLCRPD was formed mid-year in 2024, formed with the departments of Annville Township and Palmyra Borough, now employing 16 officers and maintaining a station in Palmyra and a substation in Annville.

Reasons for considering the merge, Knight and Winters said, were those which first led the departments to regionalization: a desire for more manpower, efficiency, and officer safety. Both chiefs reported that since regionalizing, their departments have been more equipped to handle calls, with faster response times and more consistent backup. Knight compared a North Lebanon Township homicide prior to regionalization to a shooting last year, noting that the former was responded to by only three officers and the latter was responded to by around ten.

LCRPD commissioner Arden Snook of North Lebanon Township praised the department for five or six lives saved since regionalization, which he attributes in part to highly reduced response times. Knight recounted one recent incident in which officers resuscitated a person using CPR and another in which officers pulled two people out of the scene of a carbon monoxide leak.

A further merged department would have 40 officers total, with eight on shift at a time covering five or six zones, and 23 vehicles.

A larger department would also allow for more specialization, with the chiefs suggesting a full-service detective division with four detectives to handle investigations, use technology like the Voice Stress Analyzer, and develop specialties in specific types of investigation. There would also be increased opportunities for promotion, which Winters said incentivizes good officers not to seek other employment.

Following LCRPD’s merger, both municipalities reduced police spending, which Knight explained last year was partially due to significantly reduced overtime hours and partially due to increased access to grants. State grants are more accessible for regional departments, Knight said, including MAP and DCED start-up grants and LSA funding.

Winters said WLCRPD’s operation costs have decreased from its first year, and said an initial high cost (leading to municipal tax increases) was partially due to differences in dispensing of funds from municipality to department in local versus regional departments which were later resolved. He addressed rumors that the department is running out of money, which he and Annville Township Manager Candie Johnson said are completely false, saying that the department has a balanced budget and money in reserves.

Johnson said her biggest concern is not cost but officer safety, noting that March 31 was the fifth anniversary of Lebanon City Lt. William Lebo’s death on a call.

“I think it’s protecting our police,” she said of the increased available backup in regionalized departments. She described public feedback she has received in appreciation of increased police visibility since the merger. “These guys are out here, doing it by themselves and, seeing it for 30 years in municipal government… This is about protecting our police officers in our communities. Today’s a special day to a lot of us, and knowing that you have backup… that’s what’s important in our communities, taking care of our emergency services.”

The chiefs’ presentation also floated the idea of including South Annville Township and South Lebanon Township in the merger, though details for this have not been set in stone. This merger would allow for a small traffic department, the presentation showed. The presentation also discussed possible options for pensions, station options, and various statistics.

“My foreseeable future is a Lebanon County police force,” said Gary Heisey (LCRPD commissioner) in response to a resident question. “It’s the way the state’s pushing it, they want it. And if we sit back and let everyone else do it and we have to act later, so I’d rather we be proactive and get it organized now and other smaller municipalities join us as we go.”

A merger between LCRPD and WLCRPD would not affect negotiations either department is undergoing to extend services to other municipalities, LCRPD commissioner Michael Wahmann said.

In the short term, Wahmann said, officers would be trained to be able to handle differences in local ordinances in each municipality. However, he said a long-term goal would be to align ordinances (such as noise and nuisance ordinances) between participating municipalities. Wahmann also highlighted increased patrol abilities and preventative crime activities of regionalized departments.

“Most people think of law enforcement as reactive organizations, but what we’ve created by regionalization is proactive police departments that can take action and do things that help prevent crime rather than just having to react to crime,” said Wahmann.”

Of the LCRPD commission, Michael Wahmann (chairman, North Cornwall), Gary Heisey (vice-chairman, North Lebanon), Ron Sell (secretary/treasurer, North Cornwall), Arden Snook (North Lebanon), and Richard Blouch Jr (citizen representative) were present.

Of WLCRPD’s commission, Rex Moore (president, Annville), Henri Lively (secretary/treasurer, Annville), Tony Pearson (Palmyra), Tom Miller (Palmyra), and Dustin Sider (citizen representative) were present. Vice-president Sheila Snyder of Palmyra was not present.

Both commissions expressed interest in further regionalization. Next, the commissions will need to look into whether they need municipal approval to further regionalize. Commissioners plan to set up another joint meeting within the next few weeks, which will be advertised and open to the public.