Mahanoy Area establishes school police department

Jan. 9—MAHANOY CITY — Two law enforcement officials started positions recently in the newly established Mahanoy Area School District Police Department.

With two full-time school police officers, or SPOs, Mahanoy Area becomes the third school district in Schuylkill County to have established such a department.

Tamaqua Area established the first department about three years ago, and Pottsville Area also has one.

The Mahanoy Area police force consists of School Police Administrator Craig Stine, of Schuylkill Haven, a former state police trooper; and School Police Officer Frank Gallo, of Shenandoah, a former school resource officer at Mahanoy Area and a Mahanoy City police officer.

Unlike many other school districts, which work with municipal police forces to employ school resource officers, or SROs, the Mahanoy Area department is a dedicated police unit that serves all law enforcement needs in the school district on a full-time basis.

The change to a full-time department was in the best interest of the students' safety, Superintendent Joie L. Green said. It also addresses coverage issues that were caused by staffing shortages in the Mahanoy City Police Department, which resulted in the district lacking a police presence on certain days.

"It was very important for the safety of our school to have a police officer here every day," Green said. "And we had a very long conversation about the pros and cons of that, and it was determined that we want to have security and safety for everybody here — so we decided to open up our own police department."

As SPOs, Gallo and Stine work across the entire district and oversee all aspects of the school day procedures, from the arrival of high school students in the morning to the dismissal of elementary students in the afternoon.

Their day-to-day responsibilities include monitoring the lunch periods, supervising traffic and assisting administration with disciplinary matters.

"Every day, we do a building check and make sure all the entrances are secure," according to Gallo.

The Mahanoy Area School District Police Department is a certified agency that conducts its matters like any other law enforcement group.

Its officers can issue citations, make arrests and respond to emergency calls, and the SPOs have their own office, uniforms, badges and other equipment, and will soon receive their first vehicle.

"It's the same function as any police department, just within the school district," Gallo said.

Increased security measures

The officers became established in their new capacities on Nov. 9, when they were sworn in by Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker.

As SPOs, the officers are full-time employees of Mahanoy Area School District and are entitled to the same benefits as other staff members.

An SRO, meanwhile, is an officer affiliated with a state or municipal police department that works with a school district.

While still relatively uncommon in the region, school police departments are also established in nearby Hazleton Area and Selinsgrove Area school districts.

Regardless of the method, however, there has been a marked increase in school-related police personnel in recent years, according to Green.

Stine said there has been a statewide trend of employing SROs since 2019, when Gov. Tom Wolf signed Act 67 into law. The legislation authorizes only school employees or contractors who meet the definition of "school security personnel" — SPOs, SROs and school security guards — to carry firearms while performing their school duties.

Under Act 67, personnel are required to take the School Security Personnel Basic Training Course — the equivalent of a 40-hour training class — to become certified in those capacities.

Gallo said that one benefit of an SPO system, as compared with SROs, are more opportunities to build rapport with the students and faculty members.

"A lot of the teachers have said it makes them feel safer every day," he said. "The kids also have somebody to come to if they don't want to go through a teacher or a guidance counselor — somebody to talk about something with or ask questions. They can come to us. ... We definitely deter activity that could become criminal."

An increased police presence at the school, combined with a set of friendly, familiar faces at the school every day, allow for better security measures across the board, he said.

In his first year as an SPO, Gallo noted, he has already noticed an improvement in behavioral issues. Students are also less likely to bring weapons or illegal items to school, he said.

"Students are definitely less apt to want to become violent with each other," Stine said. "They figure out ways to talk it out because if they know we're around, they know they could get arrested."

Business Administrator Jack Hurst, who also serves as the school safety and security coordinator, acknowledged that the May school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, was one reason the school decided to take additional security members.

Stine agreed that tragedy "triggered a lot of schools into the same mentality: That we need to improve our security and to harden our school for such an event. We have two frontline officers ready if something like that happens."

Benefits of SPOs

Chris Lilienthal, assistant director of communications at the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said the decision to employ SPOs, rather than SROs, is one that varies with each school district.

While some districts find success with SROs, he said, others may find it more cost-effective to hire dedicated officers.

One advantage of an SPO system, he noted, is that it allows officers to build trust and establish a rapport with the school more quickly.

"They're able to work productively with the students, not just when a problem arises, but to keep students and staff safe day to day," Lilienthal said. "It can have a lot of benefits for the school community."

Though still early in their tenure, the Mahanoy Area officers believe their work with the police department is going well.

Gallo said he relished the opportunity to continue serving in the Mahanoy City community.

"I'm still doing the job that I love, being a police officer, and I have the availability to work part-time at other (agencies) if we're not here," he said. "So, I get to do my job and influence the youth to hopefully stay on the right path."

Stine, who was a state trooper for 25 years, said his level of experience, combined with Gallo's familiarity with the community, make the two particularly well-equipped to serve the district.

"For me, I welcome the challenge of being the architect of the new agency," Stine said. "I thought that was really interesting. ... The (administration) hired me to work with Frank, and it's a really good mix."

(Corrected to note that Mahanoy Area was not the first school district in the county to have its own police department.)

Contact the writer: hlee@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6085