Pennsylvania Town Votes to Disband Police Department, Merge with Neighboring Agency

In a town council meeting that lasted three minutes, city leaders in the Pittsburgh suburb of Cheswick voted to disband its police department and merge with the department in neighboring Springdale Township.

The Cheswick Police Department consisted of six part-time officers, while Springdale Township has four part-time officers and two full-time officers.

According to CBS News , the merger of the two agencies has been under discussion for several years.

Cheswick Councilman Michael Girardi, "By merging, we have an opportunity to have full timers and have more training for part-timers that we do have."

But Cheswick Mayor Dan Carroll opposes the merger.

"We're going to have a lot more territory and a merger will effectively dilute our coverage," he said.