Board of Supervisors Update on Police Procedures Review

For the past few months, the Board of Supervisors has been conducting a review of the policies, procedures, and statistics of the Solebury Township Police Department (STPD). A statement of the Board’s preliminary findings was posted to the Township website in July.

A review of the data provided by the STPD reveals the following:

• Of the 7,637 individuals receiving traffic citations between January 1, 2014 and August 10, 2020, 148 (1.9%) were given to Black drivers, 6,940 (90.7%) were given to White drivers, 56 (0.7%) were given to Asian drivers, and 493 (6.4%) were of unknown race.
• During the same period, of the 2,111 traffic stops not resulting in citations, 66 (3.1%) were Black drivers, 1,922 (91.1%) were White drivers, and 123 (5.8%) were of unknown race.
• During the 2014-2020 period, the STPD made a total of 112 DUI arrests; 3 (2.7%) were Black and 109 (97.3%) were White.
• Between January 1, 2014 and August 10, 2020, there were a total of 357 arrests made by the STPD. Of those individuals, 25 (7.0%) were Black, 329 (92.2%) were White, and 3 (0.8%) were of unknown race.
• The overwhelming majority of those arrested were not residents of Solebury Township or the immediate area.

Based on the above and an overall review of the STPD, the Board of Supervisors has concluded that while there is a serious problem with systemic racism nationally the numbers reviewed do not appear to indicate the existence of STPD-specific racial bias. However, this is not the conclusion of the Board’s process. The Board and Solebury’s Police Chief will continue to investigate means and methods to avoid potential issues of discrimination. This includes an ongoing review of the STPD’s hiring and training processes. As methods change and improve, the Board of Supervisors and the STPD will strive to continue to be at the forefront of modern, effective, and fair policing.

The STPD holds a special accreditation from the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, which only about 10% of PA police departments currently hold. This requires additional training in areas such as anti-bias and de-escalation. Chief Bellizzie has been actively researching other sources of training in these important areas that are outside the realm of “traditional” police training.

A PDF with additional details is attached below.