Residents sound off about regional police force for Pittsburgh-area communities
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Mon Valley residents had the chance to have their voices heard Thursday during a town hall meeting about the Eastern Regional Mon Valley Police Department.
The department plans to cover East Pittsburgh, North Braddock and Rankin.
"I am dedicated to my community," one Rankin resident said. "I don't think it's unreasonable for me to want to know what the cost is going to be for this plan."
At the town hall meeting Thursday, the police commissioners described the Eastern Regional Mon Valley Police Department as a shared business model. The meeting discussed the budget, delivery of services and how each community will be divided into sub-committees.
"It takes a lot of money to run a law enforcement," Marcus Adams said.
Members of the communities shared their concerns with communication and budget.
"People from the community have to realize that they're important to us," said William Price of the Rankin Commission. "For this to work out, we need their support and everything too. So they need to come and give us their opinions."
The plan is to hire 12 full-time and some part-time officers. The police headquarters will be located in North Braddock, but what will the actual policing look like?
"Twelve full-time police, are we going to pick and choose," North Braddock resident Donna Vaughn said. "Are they going to go to Rankin, North Braddock or East Pittsburgh? And East Pittsburgh has no police."
Police consultant Gerald Simpson said that for the contract agreement, the people of the three boroughs are paying by the amount of people living in their community. They still do not know what the exact budget is.
The next step is finding a police chief. The three boroughs hope to find someone in the next 45 days.
