Joint police department will be dissolved

One of the attorneys working on the dissolution says the split will be ‘amicable.’

By MARY GRZEBIENIAK

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

HILLSVILLE, Pa. — After five years, Mahoning and Pulaski townships plan to dissolve their joint police department.

Mahoning Township Solicitor Louis Perrotta is working on an ordinance authorizing the dissolution of the Northwest Lawrence Regional Police Department after being directed to do so Tuesday by Mahoning Township supervisors. Pulaski Township supervisors are expected to take similar action soon.

Atty. Perrotta said Wednesday that all aspects of the dissolution will have to be worked out, and he expects the ordinance to be ready for adoption in November or December. He said the separation will be “amicable.”

He said there are no issues between the two townships except the difficulty of the department’s covering the total 100 miles of roads and providing protection for the 7,000 residents between the two townships.

Mahoning Township has been experiencing an increase in crime, and residents have been pressing for more police presence, officials have said.

Pulaski Township Supervisor Sam Varano said that supervisors there have received some complaints from residents questioning whether police were distributing their time equally between the two townships.

Last month, Mahoning Township Supervisors Vito Yeropoli and Gary Pezzuolo said the increase in juvenile crime and burglaries warranted the township’s having its own police force.

Pulaski Township had its own police department before joining with Mahoning in 2004. Mahoning had no police department at the time, having dissolved its department several years earlier.

The two townships contribute about $130,000 to the police department