Feasibility study underway as Leechburg officials aim to regionalize police department

Dec. 13—Leechburg officials are forging ahead with organizational efforts to regionalize their police force with other local municipalities.

Officials recently approved a free, state-run study with the Department of Community and Economic Development to determine whether regionalization could trim costs and ultimately ensure 24/7 coverage.

The study includes North Apollo, Parks Township and Leechburg and is expected to take several months to complete.

"We are pretty much all in the same boat with the same budget challenges," Leechburg Councilman Alan Tarr said.

Leechburg employs one part-time and two full-time officers.

The borough wants to provide its residents with 24/7 police coverage, and regionalization would accomplish this, said Leechburg Councilman D.J. Zelczak, who is the point of contact for the study.

Tarr served as Leechburg police chief from 1997 to 2001. During his tenure, he said, staffing officers wasn't an issue.

"I remember we had three full-time and 12 part-time officers back then. Now, there's very few officers coming out of the police academies," Tarr said. "A goal of regionalization would have us offering full-time officers on full-time 24/7 police coverage."

Leechburg officials are hoping to regionalize for two main reasons: to provide the community with 24/7 police coverage and to protect the officers by providing more training and equipment.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 40,000 law enforcement jobs were lost in 2011 because of defunding or layoffs.

Public safety expenditures often make up significant portions of local government budgets.

Pennsylvania has more police departments than any other state, with 83% of the municipal police departments employing fewer than 10 officers, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

To date, there are more than 35 regional police departments in the state representing more than 125 municipalities.

In October, Gilpin and Freeport combined forces to form the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department.

Leechburg officials did not engage in merger talks with Gilpin officials.

"It's a moving train right now. We just want to be on a level playing field with other participating municipalities," Tarr said.

Currently, Leechburg police do not patrol 24/7 and rely upon Pennsylvania State Police to handle gaps in coverage.

Borough officials did not release details on shift hours, citing a concern for public safety.

North Apollo Mayor June Kilgore said borough officials are "exploring their options."

Kiski Township police handle coverage in North Apollo through the end of 2024.

"Participating in this study does not mean that we are going through with this plan. It simply is a study to explore the future possibilities," Kilgore said.

Zelczak plans to email letters to the following area municipalities to invite each of them to consider joining forces: West Leechburg, East Vandergrift, Hyde Park, Vandergrift, Apollo, Allegheny Township and Oklahoma Borough.

There is a possibility the merger could cross Armstrong and Westmoreland county lines, Zelczak said.

Leechburg Mayor Tony Roppolo said his talks with the DCED have been productive.

"They're urging this movement throughout the state — it's strength in numbers," Roppolo said. "We want security and protection for our community."

Zelczak noted there is the potential for benefits among operations and administration when departments regionalize, adding that many benefits favor the administrative side, such as shared costs.

Pittsburgh attorney Christopher Gabriel of Gabriel Fera PC, specializing in labor, employment and municipal law, described the study contributions made by the DCED as helpful.

Gabriel offered his consulting services to Leechburg on a pro bono basis.

"Their purpose is to help local governments do things, and one of them is police regionalization. I think it's definitely an option that more people will look at because the choice is to try and come together or have the state police handle coverage, and that's hard for state police because they do a good job, but they're already stretched thin," Gabriel said.

Mary Ralston, vice chairperson of the Parks Township supervisors, said the township is in the early stages of discussion.

"We are gathering information right now and listening to everybody before we decide to do what we feel is best for our residents," she said.

Ralston said there is no timeline on when they will make a decision, and both Gilpin and Leechburg have approached the township with invitations to merge.

Parks employs four part-time officers, and Chief John Arce is the lone full-time officer.

As in Leechburg and North Apollo, Pennsylvania State Police covers open shifts in Parks.

The next regionalization meeting is scheduled for Jan. 18 at the Leechburg Municipal Building.

Any police department interested in regionalizing opportunities with Leechburg is asked to email emc@leechburgborough.org.

Joyce Hanz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joyce by email at jhanz@triblive.com or via Twitter .