Laurels & lances: Naughty & nice
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Laurel: To a worthy legacy. When Lower Burrell’s Brian Shaw, a New Kensington police officer, was killed in the line of duty in 2017, it didn’t bring an end to his service to the community. Five years later, a scholarship in Shaw’s name is making a difference in the lives of other public servants.
When the Allegheny County Police Training Academy graduated 32 cadets last week, Colton Moorhead, 22, received the Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship. It’s the kind of investment in people that is also an investment in community.
“It was a surprise to win the scholarship and such an honor,” said Moorhead, the eighth recipient of the award. “Brian Shaw is a hometown hero. I never met him personally but heard a lot about him. I hope to do half of what he did.”
Lance: To the lack of funding for police training. The Shaw scholarship is important because of a missing puzzle piece in how police are trained.
We want our police to be good at their jobs, to be qualified and well prepared. That requires good foundational education, the kind of thing they can get in programs like the Allegheny County academy. The sixth-month program costs $5,000 plus another $1,000 for equipment.
The problem? The same student loans that cover a semester in college or some other vocational programs aren’t available for police training.
This seems like an issue for the state or federal government to address as police departments face the problem of vacant positions at the same time that economic pressures could make it harder for would-be candidates to save up to cover the training.
Laurel: To a real gift. Every year, the Penn-Trafford High School video production class pulls together a four-hour show on the school’s social media channels — the Wishes for Warriors Holiday Telethon.
It’s an opportunity to learn and to perform. It’s also a way to help raise money for the local chapter of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Over the last six years, the event has brought in more than $250,000. That’s enough to fund 75 wishes.
It’s a lesson in giving back and making a difference.
Lance: To why we can’t have nice things. Pittsburgh Regional Transit is changing the hours for its fare vending machines at the Downtown Service Center.
Is it because no one is buying fares after 5 p.m. on weekdays? No. It’s because “destructive, disgusting and dangerous” activities in the center’s vestibule — including defecation and drug paraphernalia — have made it necessary.