Franklin Township officials have been asked to ensure 24/7 police coverage for its growing population.

Resident Thomas Lawler, of the Sawmill Run Development, told supervisors on Tuesday that residents expect the township to ensure their current quality of life.

“We should have 24/7 police protection,” he said. “If one or more full-time officers are needed to be hired, then we should begin to address and plan for it.

Lawler added that if the township is going to grow, so will the need for its police protection.

“It’s your duty to help our police force protect us,” he said. “They are true professionals, and they do an outstanding job despite their growing workload.”

Resident James Bestider, of the Sawmill Run Development, asked the board what it would cost to hire another police officer.

Supervisor Robin Cressley said that while he didn’t have an exact number, he was guessing about $125,000 a year.

Cressley added that the police department currently has five full-time officers, which accounts for about $820,000 in its budget.

Board Chairman Fred Kemmerer Jr. added to the discussion.

“We added another officer and we didn’t have the funds per se to afford it,” Kemmerer said. “So that was one of those things where we (few years ago) saw the need for it and had some sort of funds to start that fifth officer with the thought that we would be able to maintain that fifth officer and we have been but that level of having five right now is at a spot where we weren’t prepared for already.”

Kemmerer noted that brought the township to an $810,000 or $820,000 commitment to the community already.

“But for us to add, right now we’re at a spot where we’re already at five and we didn’t have the budget per se, for the fifth one,” he said. “We made do with what he have one of those spots where we went over and above was policing.”

Lawler said the township should have a multiyear plan moving forward “to hire an additional officer because we do have growth, we will have growth.”

Kemmerer said he agreed, and that when the township did its feasibility study with the new building, the study included for eight officers.

“So is it something that we are and we have been over the past year or two, we looked at with that growth in mind,” he said.

Kemmerer cited several instances within the past year-plus where the township went to different extents to address the township’s traffic issue to make sure traffic kept moving.

“It was the expectation of ours to make sure that we uphold our commitment to our community and have an officer presence out there because we knew, we all know that it had been a problem and it needed to be addressed,” he said. “And we will continue doing whatever is best for the community.”

In other police-related matters, the board on Tuesday approved the order/purchase of a 2024 Chevrolet Tahoe PPV in the amount of $53,779.