SANATOGA PA – The more the merrier or, maybe more aptly, the more the safer.

Lower Frederick's municipal building

A formal request from Lower Frederick (PA) Township to join the Ches-Mont Emergency Response Team (CMERT), a special weapons and tactics law enforcement group developed to handle high-risk situations in Montgomery and Chester counties, was approved Thursday (Jan. 19, 2012) by the Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Commissioners.

Board members acknowledged their vote was merely a technicality and said they welcomed the participation of Lower Frederick’s government, headquartered in Zieglerville on Route 73, nine miles northeast of Sanatoga.

CMERT consists of specially trained police and emergency response personnel from Pottstown, Collegeville, Upper Providence; the Lower, West, and Upper Pottsgroves; Douglass, New Hanover, Limerick, North Coventry and Colebrookdale townships. The team of more than 20 individuals is commanded by Pottstown Police Chief Mark Flanders.

All municipalities already involved, and Flanders too, recommended Lower Frederick’s inclusion, commissioners’ President Jonathan Spadt said. The organization’s by-laws demanded the formality of township approval, he added.

All participating governments make a contribution to CMERT’s operations. Members of Lower Pottsgrove’s police department are among the CMERT elite.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Jan. 19 meeing):

• Commissioners Welcome Lower Frederick To CMERT
• Jump Start: Township Wants Early Police Contract Talks

Photo from Lower Frederick Township