CHESTER, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — There is a literal barrier between the people in the city of Chester and their police department, and many residents say it needs to be removed.
Members of the public cannot open a door and walk into the Chester Police Department. Instead, they must talk to an officer on an intercom who has the option of buzzing them in, sending someone down to meet them or leaving them outside.
“If the protectors are in a place where I can’t get in, that’s kind of a concern,” said local businessman David Nelson, who sells curios down the street from the station. He says he’s seen the negatives of this policy firsthand.
“Somebody was being threatened to be attacked, and they needed direct access. And that was kind of like a safe haven for them to get to and they couldn’t get in.”
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Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland says he’s okay with the Police Department’s doors being locked to the public.
“Sometimes they’re buzzed in, sometimes they’re met outside. If they have to come in and do a report, they’re asked to come in. So they’re not always left outside.”
This policy has been off and on for the last couple of years, but for the last year, it has been a way of life.
“I haven’t heard of any problems. I haven’t come across any problems when it comes to having access to the building,” the mayor said. “This is the first I’m hearing of any residents that were unhappy, and I see the residents each and every day.”
He blames the intercom protocol on an understaffed police force.
“We could have somebody downstairs. We could have somebody out front. We could have somebody at the window. We don’t have that luxury,” the mayor said.
Chester Police Commissioner Steven Gretsky pointed to two other reasons for keeping their doors locked: concerns about COVID-19 transmission and people coming in to use their facilities who are unauthorized to do so.
Chester resident Clinton Johnson said it’s a little unnerving that he cannot see an officer’s face in a time of need.
“It should be reassuring to the public, but it’s not,” he said.
Johnson says there are too many hoops to jump through: “They say you got to buzz in and all that stuff. No, man. That should be open to the public. That’s the way I feel about it. What’s the purpose? It could be an extreme emergency.”
Nelson and others who spoke to KYW Newsradio call the situation a poor return on investment for tax-paying citizens.
“Taxes are, per se, an investment. We invest in the road, we’re driving on it. If they’re paying the taxes to have access to your protection and your security, I need to be able to have direct access to you to be able to do so.”