Published Friday, August 23, 2002
Herald Staff Writer
A possible merger of the Sharon and Southwest Mercer County Regional police departments would mean joining together two departments with very different operating styles, District Attorney James Epstein said.
The Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Commission asked Sharon and Farrell council members to attend an informational meeting Wednesday to discuss the possible merger and allow Southwest to not replace Chief Joseph Timko, who is retiring in October.
Sharon Mayor David O. Ryan and Chief Thomas Burke said they're opposed to the merger.
The meeting ended with shouting and most people walking out, and Epstein it's because the police departments are a hot topic.
They operate under very different situations, he said.
"From my perspective, the primary concern is having the highest quality law enforcement in Mercer County," Epstein said. "Each side (those for and opposed to a merger) have a legitimate point of view."
He said James DeCapua, head of the police commission and the executive director of the Mercer County Regional Council of Governments, brought Farrell's police department back from a dire financial situation more than a decade ago, and Ryan, who is Sharon's former police chief, did the same thing for his city in a different way, he said.
Epstein described Sharon as a "self-contained, full-service police department" with a detective unit and now a drug dog that operates with very little help from outside sources. "They have done that through grants and gritting their teeth and paying for that," he said.
"Southwest Regional works really well too but on a different level," Epstein said. He said the department has outstanding patrol work and response to calls but the money is not available to properly staff the department.
Southwest also uses part-time policemen, something Epstein said he and Sharon officials have philosophically opposed. Epstein said someone working in a profession full-time is immersed in that profession and there is a lack of cohesiveness with part-time police working in a department.
Epstein said his one fear with a merger is that he would hate to see Sharon's department become a hybrid with Southwest Regional using part-time officers only for economic reasons.
DeCapua said Wednesday he thinks the departments can cut their operating costs and the number of employees through attrition if they merge. Combined, the cities spend more than $3 million a year on police protection.
The quality of the work product differs between the departments due to money, Epstein said. Because Sharon has a greater source of funding and has more patrolmen, they are able to do more investigative work, such as tracking witnesses immediately following a crime, he said.
Both departments need more African-American employees, Epstein said. Southwest Regional has one black officer and Sharon has none.
The relationships between the men on both departments are "quite good," Epstein said.
Keeping a high quality of policing for the Shenango Valley is more important than economics, Epstein said. He asked, "How do you put a price tag on the quality of life to a sexual assault victim?"
DeCapua will put together a projection for a combined police department. Some Sharon and Farrell council members said they want more information -- including the economic benefits and the drawbacks -- before they decide if they want to combine the departments.
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharonherald.com