CLEARFIELD – Clearfield’s new regional police force is getting ready to hit the streets.
Although Clearfield Borough and Lawrence Township have discussed combining their police departments and other government for years, it was only this year that work actually began on consolidating their police forces.
The idea was discussed seriously at meetings in March with council members and Lawrence Township supervisors being appointed to a committee. A town hall meeting was held for the public in June.
At that time, the borough had seven full-time officers and two part-time officers while the township had 12 with one part-time and a school resource officer, according to previous reports.
It seemed like a logical plan. It was getting more difficult for both forces to find and keep officers.
Combing their resources was seen as the best way to move forward and save costs while still protecting the residents of both Clearfield Borough and Lawrence Township.
As the process moved along, a special meeting in September was held during which the committee appointed Vincent McGinnis, current leader of the Clearfield Borough Police, as the chief of the Clearfield Regional Police Department.
Julie Curry of the Lawrence Township Police Department was named assistant chief.
Both were sworn in by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman and Judge Paul E. Cherry on Wednesday along with four sergeants and the rest of the force, which totals 19 officers at this point.
Ammerman noted that swearing in this number of police officers at one time was “something we’ve never done before.”
McGinnis thanked the judges for taking the time from the court schedule to do this to which Ammerman responded, “it is our pleasure.”
District Attorney Ryan Sayers noted, “This has been in discussion since I first took office and it is definitely a step in the right direction.
“They will be better able to cover the area. I look forward to working with these officers, even though some of them I have worked with for three years.”
Ammerman recognized Steve Livergood, the chairman of the committee and a member of Clearfield Borough Council, and the other members including Vice Chair Randy Powell, (Lawrence Township Supervisor), Treasurer Jeremy Ruffner (Lawrence Township Supervisor), Secretary Stephanie Tarbay (Clearfield Borough Council) and Mike McSkimming (Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Lock Haven University Clearfield) for their work on this effort.
Powell stated that, “This is a wonderful thing that has needed to be done for years. I am glad we are moving forward.”
Afterwards, Livergood said the new regional police logo is in the works and the officers will be ready for business officially as the Clearfield Regional Police Department sometime in the New Year after the insurance arrangements are completed.
In an interview in September, Livergood explained that they chose McGinnis and Curry as the chiefs after doing interviews with the officers during what he called “a stressful time.”
They “hashed it out” and “thought this was the right move for the new department.”
The sergeants who were interviewed and chosen later are Nathan Curry and Daniel Podliski of the Clearfield Borough Police and Jonathan Walker and Craig Kanour of the Lawrence Township Police.
All of the members of the new force will be full-time, which should help attract and keep employees. The current officers on both squads were retained with Lawrence Township Police Chief Douglas Clark announcing his retirement in November.
The rest of the officers are Zachary Cowan, Tyler Brahosky, David Hoover, Quentin Neff, Brandon Desmett, Shawn Fye, Nicholas Kovalick, Dylan Kahley, Nathan Lash, Ralph Nedza, Ethan Fritz, Derek Reed and Devin Gill (absent from photo).
The squad will be based at the current Lawrence Township Building on the Clearfield Curwensville Highway.
Although initially there will be increased costs, grants are being sought to handle the expenses of getting the department going, according to a previous article.
