Penn Hills School District hires Lazaron as chief of school police force
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The Penn Hills school board made a bold new change to the district’s safety capabilities on Oct. 27 when they approved the hire of new chief of school police/school resource officer Keith Lazaron.
Lazaron comes to the district with 21 years of experience and was working as a School Resource Officer for Lenape Technical High School in Armstrong County and has also served in the Fawn Township Police Department and as a military police officer.
He signed a five-year deal with the district and will be looking to a hire a complete staff that will run the safety programs at all of the district’s school, including the elementary, middle and high schools. Lazaron will need to petition the Allegheny County court in order to receive approval for the full staff hire, and the district will be hoping to bring on at least four additional officers, who will all have the authority at the schools to both make arrests and carry weapons.
“We’ll have now have four layers in our security chain,” said district superintendent Nancy Hines.
Each school has check-ins at the front door for any visitors, they also have youth engagement specialists that are trained to tackle any issues that come up with the students. In addition, there are active duty Penn Hills policemen at the schools, including two at the high school and one each at the middle and elementary school.
“This is part of our multi-layered approach. We will continue to work closely with the Penn Hills Police Department, and this is about ensuring that the kids and staff are safe in case there is an armed intruder in the building,” Hines said. “It’s not about policing the students.”
Lazaron was hired through the use of a $323,000 grant through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and some of the funds will also be used to install security entrance booths in the parking lots at each of their schools.
School board president Erin Vecchio credited Senator Jay Costa with helping the district receive the grant money.
“I’ve been looking to do something like this for years. If we have more security, parents and their children will feel safe,” Vecchio said. “There are parents out there doing homeschooling and charter schools instead of public schools, and I think having this extra security layer will make families feel comfortable.”
Lazaron expects to start at Penn Hills around the first week of November. He said he plans to use the wealth of skills obtained through both his work experience and education to help cultivate a welcoming environment.
In addition to his professional experience, Lazaron also has an associate degree in criminal justice from Eastern Gateway Community College and is currently pursuing a bachelor degree in criminal justice and intelligence and security from Norwich University, a military college in Vermont that also offers online courses. He would ultimately like to get a PhD.
“I want to bring the knowledge I’ve obtained and help build a rapport with the students, staff and parents. At the end of the day, you may be a police officer, but you need to wear many hats,” Lazaron said. “Some days I may need to be a guidance counselor. Some days I may need to be an emotional support person. It’s not just about being an officer, and I think I’m definitely up for the challenge, particularly with the help of the Penn Hills Police Department, who I am very much looking forward to working with and will be relying on for assistance.”
Lazaron was fired from his job at Fawn in November 2020 following accusations of misconduct. He also filed lawsuit against the township alleging his rights were violated following the accusations.
Lazaron was suspended June 1, 2020, with the township alleging Lazaron changed a police report weeks after filing it to include information about township supervisors Chairman David Montanari, who Lazaron said had threatened to assault a neighbor for having a recreational fire. Lazaron has said Montanari told him to cite the neighbor, but the officer determined there was no violation and responded to a 911 dispatch for backup in Tarentum.
Lazaron’s lawsuit claimed Montanari made the threat toward his neighbor more than a week after the initial incident.
“Because I didn’t follow the agenda of the chairman of the board of supervisors, I’m in the situation that I’m in,” Lazaron told the Tribune-Review in 2020.
The case was closed in the summer of 2021 through an agreement among all parties for voluntary dismissal.
“Keith provided a full disclosure to us in the application and interview process. While I was not there and not directly involved, it sounds credible that politics might have been involved,” Hines said. “We chose to keep an open mind and to respect Keith’s right, and any employee’s right for that matter, to initiate a legal challenge when/if they feel they were unfairly treated by their employer. We were impressed by Keith’s training and direct school experience, along with his repeated expressions about how putting hands on students should be an absolute last resort.”