Frazer hires 3 new police officers, including Officer Brian Shaw Scholarship recipient

Frazer has hired a police officer and two recent police academy graduates to replace three part-timers who resigned to take positions elsewhere.

Two of the new hires, Andrew Hakos and Alexander Carmody, recently graduated from the Allegheny County Police Academy, police Chief Terry Kuhns said. The third new hire, Olivier Jean-Gilles, also works as a part-time officer in East Deer.

Hakos was a recipient of an Officer Brian Shaw Scholarship, which reimburses graduates from the Allegheny County Police Academy, according to Kuhns.

Brian Shaw, for whom the scholarship is named, graduated from the Allegheny County Police Academy in 2014. He worked for the Frazer and East Deer departments before joining the New Kensington police in June 2017. He was killed in the line of duty in November 2017.

With the new hires, Frazer has 10 part-time officers. Kuhns and Sgt. Aaron Scott are the only full-timers.

“We have had a pretty high turnover rate where officers are obtaining full-time jobs fairly quickly,” Kuhns said.

Kuhns said the department hasn’t had many problems finding applicants despite dwindling enrollment at local police academies. It normally employs between 12 and 13 officers, including Kuhns.

Kuhns thinks instructors at the Allegheny County Police Academy recommended the two recent graduates to apply to work in Frazer.

“I’ve known them many, many years, mostly from my career when I was a Westmoreland County detective,” Kuhns said of the instructors.

But the chief doesn’t expect the trend of easily obtaining applicants to continue.

“In the last couple of years, especially this last year, the police academy cadets enrollment (has shrunk) drastically,” Kuhns said. “It’s inevitable that we’re going to have some issues receiving new applicants in the near future.”

Supervisor Lori Ziencik said the three new hires were unanimously approved at this month’s supervisors meeting. Part-timers in Frazer start out making $16 an hour.

“The board generally respects the chief’s recommendation on the hiring of the police officers as he is the one that conducts the interviews,” Ziencik said.