Community in shock as Greensburg police chief's apparent double life is exposed
Jan. 29—It wasn't a major arrest, but one that can make a small difference in a community.
Shawn Denning got a tip Aug. 10 and the next day staked out Spring Avenue in Greensburg, eyes peeled for a blue Chevrolet Colorado. The driver had a few bundles of heroin, according to the criminal complaint Denning would file Jan. 5 after the suspect apparently decided not to cooperate with authorities on future narcotics investigations.
About three weeks later, the tables would turn.
Armed, in part, with information from an informant, federal investigators would be the ones filing the drug-related charges last week against the now ex-police chief in the Westmoreland County community of 15,000.
They said Denning, since July 2021, communicated with the informant, connecting the person with drug dealers in California to buy cocaine and methamphetamine. That would continue for 15 months, according to court papers.
The communication detailed in the filings paralleled Denning's recent rise through the ranks at the Greensburg station.
He was appointed captain of the department of 27 officers in September 2020, which was his third promotion in four years after joining the force in 2008. In January 2022, he took over as interim chief after a retirement and was officially tapped to lead the department in March, one of four candidates who interviewed for the job.
At the time, he told a Tribune-Review reporter he respected the title.
"I want to continue to strive to make Greensburg police great and strengthen the bonds with the community," he said.
His abrupt arrest 10 months later, and simultaneous resignation Tuesday, did the opposite.
'A punch to the gut'
"It's definitely going to shake community trust," said Brian Higgins, a retired New Jersey police chief who is an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "The police have to address it; they have to address it with the community."
The allegations and arrest will be on the mind of citizens for a while, but they shouldn't hold it against other officers, said Tom Horan, a retired county detective who instructs municipal police training classes at Westmoreland County Community College.
"There's really good police officers out there," he said. "They should trust them, but the cops have to meet them halfway."
Denning, 41, of Delmont was arrested Tuesday morning at Greensburg City Hall by federal agents. The Marine veteran is charged with conspiracy, aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine and aiding and abetting the attempted distribution of methamphetamine.
Attempts to reach him this week have been unsuccessful. His attorney has said the charges aren't reflective of Denning's character.
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By around 4 or 5 p.m. Tuesday, word started to trickle down to law enforcement officers around Westmoreland County, leaving them bewildered and angry. Around the same time, Denning had a 20-minute arraignment hearing.
"'When I got the word, I was, like, total denial," said Tim Phillips, director of the Westmoreland County Drug Overdose Task Force, who added Denning permitted city officers to attend task force events to connect with the public.
Part of the job of being a municipal police chief is to build community trust, said Penn Township police Chief John Otto. Denning's arrest "ripped the heart out" of officers and leaders who strive to make their department credible, trustworthy and valuable in a community, he said.
"When you pick up the newspaper and that's the headline, your heart sinks; it's a punch to the gut," Otto said. "To say it's disappointing, it's an understatement."
'You just give in'
A complaint filed in Pittsburgh federal court by the Drug Enforcement Administration lays out evidence of Denning reportedly acting as middle man between the informant and dealers in California. They included conversations between the pair on smartphone apps where Denning is accused of providing contact information for the out-of-state suppliers and a "menu" of their available drugs, as well as how to transmit money to them electronically. The pair met sometime during the summer of 2021, the complaint said.
Denning vouched for the suppliers, and the DEA provided the informant with money to place orders, according to the complaint. The mailed packages that were confiscated contained drugs, authorities said.
The informant was wearing a wire at an Oct. 8 cornhole tournament during which authorities said Denning gave the informant a set of cornhole bags to make up for the informant losing $500 in a purchase that was never delivered.
Meanwhile, Denning was working at keeping drugs off the streets of Greensburg.
On Aug. 18, 2021, he and a fellow officer staked out a parking lot on East Pittsburgh Street. He reported in a criminal complaint he was involved in a drug seizure there two months earlier. A man was found with cocaine that day, according to court papers.
On Sept. 15, 2021, Denning is accused of providing the government's informant with prices for cocaine.
Nine days later, Denning filed drug charges against the man from the parking lot on East Pittsburgh Street.
Bowling Green University professor Philip Stinson, who earned his doctorate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, studies cops who get arrested through The Henry A. Wallace Police Crime Database he created. Nationwide, there were 15,200 arrest cases involving officers between 2005 and 2017, including 787 in Pennsylvania and 24 in Westmoreland. Those statewide crimes were related to alcohol, drugs, violence, profit and sex, according to the database.
Police are in close proximity to laws being broken, and "somehow you just give in," Stinson said.
It can be a situation of seemingly minor infractions snowballing, Horan said.
"If you do something unethical ... and the next thing you know you've crossed the line," he said.
Leading a police department is a high-profile position that comes with a lot of responsibility, Higgins said. For Otto, he relishes helping his officers have the tools to succeed and make a difference in the community.
"That is very rewarding to me," he said.
'We don't need things like this'
Seeing the community trust be erased can add to the challenges of working in law enforcement and preparing students for a career in the field, said James Bumar, retired Latrobe chief who teaches at Saint Vincent College and Westmoreland County Community College.
"We don't need things like this to drag us down further," he said. "This is the kind of thing that can give police a bad rap. It's hard enough to be a police officer in this day and age."
Public trust is a key part of policing, and Greensburg needs to find a way to show the community that Denning's arrest is not reflective of the entire force while rebuilding the relationship with residents, Higgins said. Horan suggested getting back to community policing: walking the beat and connecting with citizens.
Denning is accused of sending a menu of available drugs on Jan. 10, 2022 to the confidential informant after being asked about ecstasy, according to court filings. Messages obtained by authorities showed Denning offered contact information for a California supplier he called "trustworthy with top notch product."
Eight days later, the former police chief retired, and Denning took over as interim chief.
While city officials were mulling over who to hire as the department head, Denning is accused of connecting the informant to suppliers for purchases of cocaine and methamphetamine. Packages that contained the drugs were seized by investigators in February, according to the complaint.
Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta by email at rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .
