In September 2024, Jenkintown Borough received a letter from the Jenkintown Police Benevolent Association (JPBA) alleging a hostile work environment within the Police Department and reporting a vote of no confidence in Police Chief Scott.

Because we take these matters seriously, the Borough Solicitor engaged independent counsel, Campbell Durrant, P.C., to conduct a thorough review. Every officer, the Chief of Police, and the Mayor participated in the investigation.

The full report is being shared for transparency. Redactions were made only with regard to the names of individual officers being quoted in the report.

The findings were clear: no hostile work environment exists, and no misconduct by Chief Scott was identified. The report determined that the concerns raised reflected disagreements over operational decisions and practices. It also confirmed that a vote of no confidence was never taken, and that several officers expressed their confidence in Chief Scott.

The investigation included recommendations to strengthen communication and reduce internal conflict.

These include:

· Ensuring the Chief continues to consult with labor counsel before making operational changes that could affect pay or benefits.
· Regular discussions among Borough leadership, the Mayor, and the Chief about strategies for sustaining high-quality police services, with legal guidance where needed.
· Focused efforts by the Chief and Mayor to repair and strengthen relationships with the Police Association and its members.

The Borough, the Mayor, and Chief Scott are committed to continuing to follow these best practices. We recognize that change can be difficult, but it is necessary to ensure accountability, professionalism, and sustainability in police services.

If you have any questions, please contact Mayor Gabriel Lerman or President Jay Conners.

A copy of the investigation report (PDF) is available here.

Abington Township announced yesterday that the Community meeting with SPS Technologies has been confirmed. Interested Jenkintown Borough residents are welcomed to attend –

“SPS will be holding a community meeting on Thursday, September 25, 2025, from 7 – 9 PM to share their plans to build a state-of-the-art, aerospace fasteners facility on Highland Avenue. The meeting will be held at the Abington School District Middle School Little Theater, located at 2056 Susquehanna Road. 

For more information and updates, please visit SPS Technologies’ website at https://www.spsupdates.com/.”

Please note that the SPS Technologies website went down and they are working to restore the informational website asap.

Beginning in 2024, the Borough parking enforcement, administration and Council have worked toward adopting ordinance 2025-1 which will amend Articles III and IV of Chapter 172 of the Jenkintown Code, in their entirety. This ordinance speaks to Parking within the Borough and is a comprehensive revision to the existing ordinance which had been last revised in its entirety in 2006. To that end Borough Council has held publicly advertised parking meetings with residents, property owners and business owners. Additionally, information was shared over Borough social media platforms and at regularly scheduled Council and Committee meetings. Through these meetings and information sharing sessions held with residents and business owners the Ordinance has seen many proposed revisions to address the concerns voiced during this process.

The proposed parking ordinance will now come back to Borough Council at the regularly scheduled Council meeting in July 2025 for consideration to advertise proposed ordinance 2025-1 as part of the legal adoption process. The proposed ordinance can be found here. The latest proposed revisions are highlighted in yellow for clarity.

The proposed Ordinance will amend, in their entirety, Articles III and IV of Chapter 172 of the Jenkintown Code.  The comprehensive revisions to Article III include provisions relating to: (1) general parking regulations, (2) angled parking regulations; (3) prohibited parking regulations including prohibitions at specific locations and on designated streets; (4) parking restrictions relating to vehicles in excess of 80 inches in width or 11,000 lbs of gross vehicle weight; (5) parking restrictions relating to mobile homes, RVs, boats, and certain trailers; (5) establishment of permit only parking zones and the authorization of the corresponding permitting process and fees; (6) designated 20-minute parking areas; and (7) buss, coach and taxicab parking regulations.  The comprehensive revisions to Article IV include provisions relating to: (1) definitions including the Payment Parking Zones; (2) parking space and payment regulations; (3) violations and the duty to report/issue citations; (4) regulations authorizing temporary suspension of parking restrictions and erection of signage; and (5) designation of parking payment zones, hours, time limits and rates.

Once the Ordinance has completed the required legal process of adoption the appropriate parking regulatory, and informational signage will be installed throughout the Borough. The parking conditions will be monitored on an ongoing basis and all information gathered will be analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the Parking Ordinance and possible further revisions that may be necessary.

Jenkintown Borough is pleased to announce the successful ratification and signing of a new collective bargaining agreement between the Borough and the Jenkintown Police Benevolent Association.

This new agreement covers the years 2024 through 2027 and benefits our community as well as the members of the PBA. Both parties have worked hard to reach this agreement and we thank the Jenkintown PBA for being collaborative in finding solutions to needed contractual updates which bring us greater consistency with comparable municipalities in our area.

Some highlights include:

• Rectifying conflicts between the Fair Labor Standards Act and the accrual and banking of specific types of time off
• Agreement on staffing/scheduling that fits the needs of the Jenkintown community
• Moving to a more fair and balanced approach to compensation for time related to training, opening the pathway for increased and modernized training for all members of the Department

This new CBA also provides fair pay and good benefits, opportunities to learn new skills that support 21st century policing policies, attention to health and wellbeing, and ensures that our officers are provided with what they need in order to do the job right. In addition to the new CBA, many of the JPD policies have recently been updated and continue to be revised. In combination, this new agreement and updated policies will continue to foster a culture of high performance and accountability.

Jenkintown Borough remains steadfast in its commitment to providing all public safety services with the support needed to ensure the safety and security of all residents and visitors to the Borough. This new collective bargaining agreement is a testament to that commitment and is included as an attachment to this statement for full transparency to the community that we all serve.

Read more in this article published on Glenside Local.

A full copy of this signed agreement can be viewed/downloaded here (PDF).

As was reported by Glenside Local in this article:

“Jenkintown Borough was awarded a $250,000 grant for pedestrian improvements and traffic calming, the Montgomery County Commissioners announced. The grand is one of 17 Montco 2040 Implementation Grants for 2025.

Jenkintown will make pedestrian and road improvements:
1) Walnut Street and Washington Lane—install a raised crosswalk connecting to sidewalk along Washington Lane for pedestrians crossing to Walnut Street;
2) Summit Avenue/Wyncote Road—install raised crosswalks, pedestrian signage, and a more visible stop bar on Wyncote Rd;
3) Linda Vista Avenue/Chelten Avenue/Cedar Street—narrow Linda Vista with a vegetated curb extension and provide a pedestrian refuge island and crosswalks;
4) Vernon Road/Vista Road—add crosswalks and pedestrian signage to Vernon Road;
5) York Road/West Avenue—install accessible push buttons on all four corners of the intersections. “