Allegheny County

Forward Township, Elizabeth Township residents come together to discuss public safety

FORWARD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Tuesday’s meeting was a call to action. Forward Township and Elizabeth Township neighbors packed into a meeting room to discuss public safety. This comes two weeks after Forward Township’s three commissioners voted unanimously to disband its police department.

“It breaks my heart,” Laurie Sleith tells Channel 11 News. “It’s personal. They’re like friends. We knew all of our cops. You call and they’re there in a heartbeat.”

Travis Stoffer was Forward Township’s Police Chief. He’s now filing for unemployment.

“Shocked, I’m shocked it happened,” Stoffer tells Channel 11. “Everybody really looks out after everybody in our community, except our supervisors. They look out for themselves.”

Stoffer calls this move personal and political. His wife ran against the chairman of the supervisors in November. She organized Tuesday night’s meeting.

The Elizabeth Township Police Department will now take over for the Forward Township Police and they say they’re committed to serving the community. However, with only 13 officers and a new area to cover, some say they’re concerned it’s going to lead to longer wait times when minutes matter.

“You may get a call and it may take them 30 to 45 minutes just to find the house,” Stoffer adds.

Stacey Joll is a former Fire Chief in Forward Township. She’s also concerned about response times.

“I know from being the fire chief at one time, it’s a really big area to cover – if you don’t have people to respond that quick, you’re stuck,” Joll tells Channel 11.

Neighbors say they’re so upset they’re going to be forming citizens’ committees to do something about this and explore the option of a referendum to get five commissioners elected.

“It’s all political, all of it,” Nancy Sleith says. “There’s no doubt about it. It hurts the community.”

Forward Township’s three supervisors voted to dissolve the department, citing money, staffing problems and poor response times. The chairman of the supervisors said this decision was a long time coming and it had nothing to do with the police department filing to unionize.

Forward Township Supervisors have a meeting May 9. Neighbors say they will be coming out to support their police department.