Mayor's Message 9/20/2023

Good Evening,  

At the last council meeting, I was unable to give the mayor’s message since for the third time in less than two years the council president has shut down council meetings before the publicized agenda items were addressed.  Some of those items will appear on the agenda for the next council meeting but others are more time sensitive, like the mayor’s message. 

1. Tomorrow, September 30, we will hold the Upper Darby International Festival from 1-6 pm at the 5 Points intersection in front of the township building. You won’t want to miss the music acts, food demonstrations, vendors, Artillery Brewing, and more from around the community. The YMCA and Upper Darby Libraries have created the best Kids Zone ever.  This event is free and open to all.   

2, Next week we will host a Kick-off for Fire Prevention Week, on October 5, from 5-7pm at the 2nd Ward Playground (at Crosley & Stockley); the playground will also be officially renamed at this event to the Stonehurst Hills Recreation Area.  We have done a complete renovation of the space and we hope to see you there! 

3. The fall Identity Theft Prevention Event will be held on Saturday, October 14, from 9am to noon at Upper Darby High School. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE VIDEO GIVES THE INCORRECT DATE. The correct date is Saturday, October 14, 2023. 

4. I’d like to address a couple of themes which keep popping up during the public forum.  As I have said before, I respect every resident’s right of free speech but there is not enough time in any sort of meeting to address or acknowledge the various false statements that are made here in this room. In this message, I would like to clarify our commitment and support of our Police Department.  Since 2020, we have purchased: 

Body Worn Cameras and upgraded Tasers for all officers on duty. The department has recently received State Accreditation which includes an update of all policies and procedures.   

We have hired 35 officers and promoted 23 since 2020.  We now have the most diverse police department in Upper Darby’s history. 

The department has developed TAPS (Teens and Police Service Academy) which runs at Bonner-Prendie. the Municipal Library on Bywood Avenue and now at UDHS.   

A new Community Policing Center has been opened at Barclay Square and includes the hiring two civilian Community Liaisons and the former Community Affairs Office at the  Drexeline Shopping Center has also been reopened at Pilgrim Gardens. 

We also have (4) New Patrol Canines: (K9 Bane, K9 Juno, K9 Kilo, and K9 Bronx). One dog is assigned to each patrol platoon and a Community Service Dog has been assigned to  Community Affairs Officer Bateman. 

A long-needed Sally Port was added and enclosed to the rear of Police Headquarters.   

We have a full-time Victim Services Coordinator and we purchased an office trailer, which is now our Victim Services Unit. 

The old courtroom located inside of police headquarters was converted into a larger, state of the art Training facility for the police department.   

Office space in police headquarters was renovated and now houses the Domestic Abuse Project.   

There have been technological investments as well: the purchase of Grayshift software for detectives which allows them to analyze cellular devices. Previously, devices had to be sent out to other agencies. All interviews in Upper Darby are now conducted with audio/visual equipment. We also added all this equipment for recording interviews with detectives.  We have a new ALPR tag reading system Township-wide.   

I’d like to note that this is not a comprehensive list of all that has been accomplished and I’d like to thank Superintendent Bernhardt and his team for doing so much to  modernize and improve public safety for our community in less than four years. 

That’s all for now.  Hope to see you all at the International Festival tomorrow!