2 new cops in New Castle

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — The city has hired two new police officers with money provided through a state grant.

Officers Justin Alan Houk, 28, and Philip Daniel McCann, 23, both of New Castle, were sworn in on Thursday.

The men were hired to fill spots on the city police force made available through the Police on Patrol Program. The grant will provide the city with $90,344 annually over a three-year period.

Council accepted the grant earlier this year and entered into a companion agreement with the city school district to have one police officer assigned to the New Castle Junior-Senior High School.

Council President Rob Ratkovich said he doesn't know whether Houk or McCann will be assigned to the school district. He said it is likely an officer will be drawn from the police department’s workforce to fulfill the city’s obligation to the school district.

The agreement assigns one of the officers to the school during school hours for the nine-month school year. The school district will reimburse the city for 75 percent of the officers’ total compensation package.

City officials said the school officer’s duties, along with providing security, will be to interact with the teachers, students and parents, and possibly provide education programs in cooperation with the national Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in place at the school district.

In other city matters, lawmakers designated council members Chet Orelli Jr. and Karen DeCarlo as the delegate and as the alternate, respectively, to the Lawrence County Regional Council of Governments for 2007. Council member William Quimby has been named a director of the Greater New Castle Community Development Corporation for 2007.