Connellsville hires two officers
CONNELLSVILLE – Two city natives have returned home to become members of the local police department. Michael Long and Rob Wilson were recently hired by city council, with Wilson filling the position vacated by former Det. Lt. Tom Cesario, and Long assisting with two new programs being implemented by the department.
Wilson, a 1991 Connellsville Area High School graduate, attended the Police Academy at Westmoreland County Community College before joining the West Newton Police Department as a patrolman.
“The opportunities are a lot better here,” he said. “This is a bigger area than West Newton.”
An additional perk, said Wilson, is that the travel time between his home in Connellsville and the municipal building is a shorter distance than to the police station in the Westmoreland County community.
“I’m really glad to be working here,” he said.
Long, a 1992 graduate of the local high school, returned to the area in June after spending two years with the Washington, D.C., Police Department.
“I accomplished what I went there to prove, that a little country local boy could make it in the big city,” said Long. “I also wanted to move back home.”
Prior to his stint in the nation’s capital, the married father of two worked as a security guard at Nemacolin Woodlands and as a police officer with the Fairchance Borough Police Department. He attended Westmoreland County Community College and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he received his police training.
Connellsville police chief Stephen Cooper said both men were a welcome addition to the force.
“Both scored extremely well on the (civil service) test we gave a few months ago, and we’re very fortunate to have these two guys working for the city,” he said.
While both will be patrolling the city streets, Long will be providing protection service to those in the Gibson Terrace area and taking part in the countywide tobacco-compliance program.
The city was awarded a $45,000 grant through the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission and $25,000 from the Fayette County Housing Authority to provide policing services for the separate programs.
“Because the grants included funding to cover salary expenses, we were able to add Mike to our staff,” said Cooper.