Uniontown police add reserves assist force
The Uniontown police department has added 12 people to assist with crowd and traffic control during large-scale emergencies and events like parades. The first class of Uniontown Police Reserve Unit has been working since May and a second class will begin training in October.
Police Chief Kyle Sneddon said the reserves are used to direct traffic or handle crowd control during emergencies so the police officers can deal with the actual emergency.
Traffic and crowd control during special events like parades or races has also been assigned to the reserves. Members of the reserves are all volunteers.
“The Police Reserve is a valuable tool for us,” Sneddon said. “They can handle traffic control so it doesn’t tie up our officers. They’re a great asset to us. They give us more trained people to respond to disasters or large-scale emergencies.”
Mayor James Sileo appointed Andrew Johnson of South Union Township as chief of the reserve unit Tuesday.
“We’re there when they need us,” Johnson said. “It’s been very interesting, the different types of training they’ve put us through. The people enjoy doing this.”
They don’t carry guns, but do pack batons, handcuffs and pepper spray, and they’ve been trained to use them. They have also been trained in first aid and CPR.
The six-week training program at Penn State’s Fayette campus consists of two to three hour sessions two or three days per week, said Andrew Ferguson, a lieutenant in the reserves.
Grants and private donations have paid for the training and uniforms for the reserves.
“People don’t respond to a guy wearing a T-shirt waiving a flag,” Ferguson said.
Sneddon said the reserve unit is similar to an auxiliary police department, which the city had many years ago.
He said the city has borrowed Connellsville’s auxiliary police for special events and having the reserves allows Uniontown to reciprocate.
While the reserves could be used to detour traffic around a water main break or around the scene of a disaster, they will not replace the city’s sworn police officers.
“When you call the police, you’ll get a policeman, not a reservist,” Sneddon said.
Ferguson said the reservists only want to help the department.
“We are not police officers. We don’t want to be police officers,” Ferguson said, “We’re here to help them with whatever they need help with, without being a deterrent to anything they want to accomplish.”
He also said the reserves could assist in applying for grants for the department.