Lack of manpower and financial concerns have Verona officials considering partnering with neighboring communities to start a regional police force.

Council hosted a discussionJan. 23 to explore the idea with Gerald Simpson, a retired police chief who now serves as a consultant on such matters for the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

No decisions were made at the council meeting that followed.

“We’re looking into it because our police force is small,” council President Raymond Suchevich said. “Like other municipalities and boroughs, nobody wants to be a cop anymore. It’s the personnel. It’s the money. Verona’s not paying like some towns are because of budget constraints.”

The Verona Police Department has three full-time officers, including Chief Ron McLemore, and three part-timers.

However, the chief is still recovering from being attacked while responding to a call at Verona Gardens Apartments in November. Another full-time officer is off because of a nonwork-related injury.

State police help cover Verona emergencies.

Sgt. Jerry Frankos is serving as officer in charge until the chief returns. He declined to comment on the regional police talks.

Council Vice President Trish Hredzak-Showalter said forming a regional police force may result in increased officer wages but an overall reduction in the borough’s police expenses.

This year’s borough budget is about $2.115 million, with close to $675,000 allocated for police.

“We’re trying to fix roads,” Hredzak-Showalter said. “We’re trying to do so much infrastructure (upgrades). We’re trying to maintain the staff that we have now and keep the morale up. But this huge number makes it really spread thin for everything else. … We’re exploring all options (to) improve public safety.”

Simpson provided what he called a “50,000-foot view” of the steps to create a regional police force and its benefits.

Verona Council would have to submit a letter of intent to the state and do a feasibility study. The borough could then use that data and identify community partners in order to determine whether a regional police department would be the right move.

A group of elected officials from those communities would then serve as a commission or a committee and create an intermunicipal cooperation agreement. Only then would the communities address administrative and operational issues, such as who would be the new police chief, where the headquarters would be located and what the merged department would be called.

Simpson has been involved in about a dozen regional police projects throughout the state including the ongoing process with Braddock, East Pittsburgh, North Braddock and Rankin.

He said there are more success stories than failures when it comes to regional policing.

“You probably have a lot more in common with your neighbors than you realize as it relates to the import/export of the issues you might be dealing with,” Simpson said. “Whether it’s a traffic issue, a crime issue, a quality-of-life issue. Those things don’t know where the road signs stop and a borough begins and ends. That’s not what happens in reality.

“Those things transfer right across jurisdictional lines, with little thought about where your lines are at or how you see your community and how it’s set up.”

Pennsylvania has more than 35 regional police departments representing more than 125 municipalities.

Suchevich said there are a lot of things for council to consider.

“I don’t know if I’m all for (a regional department),” he said. “You want your own (police force), but it’s the times. It’s all in the beginning stages.”

Sherry Satz, co-owner of The Hula Bar less than a block away from the police station, said she is in favor of regional policing.

“I think it is very important to have a low-crime area for businesses to thrive (and) for residents and visitors to feel safe to come to the community,” Satz said. “We’ve added breweries. We have a barbecue place now. For the service industry, (policing) is very important.”

Satz said having more municipalities under one police force means that department would have more areas to draw resources and funding.

“Allegheny County is a really unique area,” Satz said. “There’s a lot of little boroughs. I can’t imagine, especially after the pandemic, the cost of running a town has got to be astronomical with the inflation we’re facing today. … I’m in support of regional policing.”

State Rep. Joe McAndrew, D-Penn Hills, sat in on the discussion. His district includes Verona, Oakmont, Penn Hills and Plum — all potentially viable partners for a regionalized department.

McAndrew spoke afterward about communities supporting one another but would not say if he would push for a regional department.

“We’ve got to make sure the people in this area are protected and looked after,” he said. “We had a representative from DCED today with Chief Simpson. We need to be making sure we have resources being distributed if there is opportunity for regionalization.

“We need to make sure that the state is helping support the efforts that are going forward to protect the residents of this area and surrounding areas.”

Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese also attended. She said there have been no formal discussions between the two communities.

“This is a complicated issue,” she said. “That’s why I’m here tonight. We need to explore everything. We want Verona to succeed.”

Calabrese announced her municipality recently approved a memorandum of understanding to provide mutual aid to Verona.

She said Verona Mayor David Ricupero reached out to the municipality for assistance after the attack on McLemore in November and the other Verona officer’s injury.

“We will help — whatever we can do within the confines of our policy and the union contract,” Calabrese said. “We would do whatever we could do. It’s the right thing to do. That’s the way we work here. … I’m sure they would be happy to help us if we were in the same boat.”

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