North Apollo, Parks Township join Leechburg police regionalization study; more participation sought

Leechburg officials are hoping to add more nearby municipalities to an upcoming police regionalization feasibility study.

In addition to Leechburg, North Apollo and Parks Township officials have agreed to participate in a state-run study to explore whether regionalization would reduce costs and pave the way for 24/7 police coverage.

Leechburg Councilman D.J. Zelczak is serving as the study’s point of contact. He said a formal request will be filed with the state Department of Community and Economic Development on Feb. 23.

“Other communities have expressed an interest in attending the final information session, but there’s only unofficial confirmation of that interest, so I’d be uncomfortable mentioning who they are until the meeting,” Zelczak said.

Leechburg hosted two meetings since December for any police department interested in joining the study.

The final regionalization meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the Leechburg Volunteer Fire Company on Canal Street.

“We’re excited to move forward with the process,” Zelczak said. “We are coming together as a group of municipalities to request the DCED conduct a study regarding the viability of a regional (police department) and, if feasible, what that regional (department) might look like.”

Officials stressed that participating in the study does not obligate any municipality to join a regionalized department.

The study is free and provided by the DCED. It’s expected to take six to eight weeks to complete, Leechburg Councilman Alan Tarr said.

“Hopefully, Apollo, West Leechburg and Hyde Park will attend,” Tarr said Wednesday. “There’s been quite a bit of interest. It’s been talked about, years back, but nothing came of it.

“We’re having a real hard time getting and retaining police officers because they’re getting out of the academies and they’re getting full-time jobs.”

Tarr explained that, in the past, many officers had to work part time before full-time jobs were available.

“Officer safety, more officers on patrol to back up each other and offering 24/7 coverage — that’s the priority,” Tarr said. “Anybody interested should be at the meeting next week. With limited budgets as most of us have, times are changing and we’re just trying to keep up.”

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

Tarr said one topic arising among regionalization discussions is how to manage the county lines. Hyde Park and West Leechburg are in Westmoreland County, while Leechburg, Apollo, North Apollo and Parks Township are in Armstrong County.

For one thing, police within the same county are dispatched from a 911 center serving that particular county.

“People are concerned about the communications between the two counties,” Tarr said. “What it comes down to is: Are we going to have better coverage than we have now?”

After the study, each municipality will consider its next course of action.

According to data from DCED, Pennsylvania has more police departments than any other state in the country. Pennsylvania has more than 35 regional departments representing more than 125 municipalities.

Most regional police departments are formed to strengthen police services in training, patrolling, investigations, administration and specialty services.

Parks Township Supervisor Mary Ralston said Wednesday: “We’re looking at all the pros and cons so we can make the best decisions when it comes to safety of our residents.”

Parks Township Supervisor Chairman Gregg Artman said he will wait until the study is completed before commenting.

Freeport, Gilpin, Ford City combined departments

In October, Freeport and Gilpin combined departments to form the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department — the first regional department in Armstrong County. Ford City joined that department Jan. 1.

Zelczak said geography alone is not a reason to join a regional police department.

“There are a myriad of factors, many of them economic, which need to make sense,” he said. “The bottom line for me is how can we most efficiently provide the maximum police coverage to our citizenry while equipping our officers to provide them with safety in the most efficient manner.”

For Leechburg, merging with the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department was not an option, Zelczak said.

“Although there are those who said we were approached, we were not since I’ve been on council. The Southern Armstrong Regional was not formed based on a DCED study, to my knowledge,” he said.

“I’m not sure we would want to jump aboard a moving train with little or no say in its direction.”

Gilpin Supervisor Charles Stull said multiple in-person meetings occurred with Leechburg officials dating to 2018.

“Unfortunately, nothing was able to come to fruition,” Stull said.

Stull confirmed there was no DCED study completed in forming Southern Armstrong Regional.

“We used real-life examples and experience from the department — researching and referencing Allegheny Valley Regional and Evans City-Seven Fields Regional police departments,” Stull said.

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