Police chief defends department at Masontown council meeting
MASONTOWN – By request of council, Chief Rich Barron attended Tuesday’s meeting and defended the police department against allegations made last month by councilman Joe Volansky. “We’re doing our job, and I take exception to what happened here last month,” Barron said.
In January, Volansky voiced displeasure with the police department, referring to the department “as a joke,” and asked that Barron be present for February’s meeting.
At that time, council seemingly supported Volansky by passing a motion that officially requested Barron’s presence.
During the January meeting, Volansky said speeding is a problem in the borough and that the police department, headed by Barron and Mayor Thomas Loukota, was doing nothing to curtail the problem.
Volansky said he made numerous requests over several months “on behalf of some residents of Masontown” that police officers use VASCAR equipment to catch speeders on the east side of the borough, from Main Street to the Sandy Bottom area, where most of the alleged speeding occurs. He specifically mentioned East Church Avenue and Smithfield Road.
Volansky alleged officers weren’t using VASCAR in the east side of the borough to catch speeders.
Barron denied all of Volansky’s allegations Tuesday and said that he and the mayor are working to curtail speeding throughout the entire borough. Barron said officers are diligent in doing speed checks, including the east side of the borough.
Officers, according to Barron, responded to more than 2,000 incidents in 2006, 75 percent of the time by themselves, and patrolled 33,000 miles, which equals out to about 100 trips around the borough each day.
“It’s not like they’re lounging around,” he said, noting that officers do use VASCAR and do write speeding tickets.
Barron said he took offense at Volansky’s remark that the police department is a joke.
Barron said his officers are busy keeping the borough safe and said they deserve an apology, noting that neither he nor the officers found Volansky’s remark funny.
They’re “not laughing,” he said.
Volansky apologized for referring to the entire police department as a joke, saying the borough employs several quality policemen. But, Volansky also said the borough employs a few, without naming names, who don’t deserve “to wear a badge.”
Nonetheless, council members Bob Brown, Carole Daniels and Harry Lee commended the police department as a whole Tuesday for the work officers do in the borough.
“I think council should come out with a statement in support of the police department,” Brown said.
Daniels and Lee both said they “didn’t have a problem” with the police department.
“I believe our police department is dedicated, and we should be proud to have them,” Daniels said.
Lee said he believes council should not interfere with police business.
“We’re supposed to stay out of their business and let them do their job,” he said.
Council members Charles Popovich Jr. and Thomas J. Salonick were present for the meeting but made no comments. Councilman Frank McLaughlin was absent.
In January at the borough meeting, Brown, Daniels and Lee did not defend the police department against Volansky’s allegations and voted in favor of Volansky’s motion to request Barron’s presence at the next meeting.
McLaughlin also voted in favor of the motion. Popovich and Salonick were not present for January’s meeting.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Loukota said he and Barron have been working to curtail speeding in the borough since November 2006, “long before” it became an issue at council meetings.
“I strive pretty hard to keep law and order in this town, and I think I’ve done my job,” Loukota said.
Loukota said he hasn’t received any complaints about speeding in the borough and said anyone who has any type of complaint or problem is more than welcome to call him.