Community Watch meetings to resume in Vandergrift after a 2-year hiatus

Community Watch meetings are returning to Vandergrift.

Councilwoman Marilee Kessler announced the news on social media this week.

The group cancelled its monthly meetings in 2019 because of winter storms. With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the meetings stayed on hiatus.

The first monthly meeting this year is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at in the borough building.

After a summer break, meetings will resume in September and go through May 2023.

Vandergrift police Officer Joe Gray will facilitate the meetings. He’ll discuss borough crime-related information and statistics. Gray did not respond to requests for comment on the program.

Kessler said the goal of the meetings is to provide reliable information to residents who are concerned about something and for the police to share information among residents.

“In no way is it a council meeting,” Kessler said. “These are meetings where residents can come to discuss issues, good and bad, among themselves, and receive guidance.”

Kessler said issues covered at previous meetings include dealing with scam phone calls, drug addiction and senior citizen issues.

Longtime Vandergrift resident Karen Cramer, 72, said she was thrilled to hear that the Community Watch program is back.

Cramer said she was involved when the group was formed in 2015 and plans to attend the meeting Wednesday.

“I’m thrilled this is coming back,” Cramer said. “It’s sad the residents don’t take advantage. It’s informative, informal and residents can get the inside scoop.”

Cramer said previous meetings included information about crime in the borough, drug-related issues and domestic violence topics. Guest speakers were often featured, from organizations such as the Red Cross, Vandergrift Public Library, Summit Academy and The Alle-Kiski Area HOPE Center.

“Please get involved with your community and attend,” Kessler wrote in her post to the Facebook group It’s Your Community Vandergrift. “Together we can thrive.”

Sweetlane Chocolate Shop co-owner Eric Mikula attended several Community Watch meetings and said the return of the group is a positive move in the borough.

“It builds community unity and builds relationships between the officers and the residents. When Officer Gray speaks, it arms the residents with tools to identify possible crimes in the borough,” Mikula said.