MAYOR OPPOSES REDUCING SAFETY OFFICERS

Monroeville's mayor agrees with the police chief's plan to convert a
juvenile officer position to a school resource officer position but
still opposes the department's reduction of its community safety program.

Mayor James Lomeo said stationing a police officer full time at
Gateway High School is good for the school district.

"But it doesn't solve the problem from our side. We still only have
two police officers in the community safety division when, until
April, we had three," he said.

Technically, only two of the positions are community safety officers;
the third is a related position overseeing juvenile crimes. Community
safety officers teach the anti-drug use DARE program in elementary
schools, work with neighborhood crime watch groups and provide crime
prevention information to businesses and residents.

Police Chief George Polnar decided to replace one of the two
community safety positions with a patrol position when a community
safety officer retired.

Assistant Chief Doug Cole said Monroeville has trimmed its specialty
programs because it needs more patrol officers to respond to an
average 50 calls each day.

"One of the things we've been trying to do is put more people on the
streets," he said.

The department has reduced the traffic division -- which reconstructs
accidents -- from four to two positions. The reduction of the
community safety program follows a national trend toward increasing
the interaction between police and older children.

"The trend across the country is to put police officers in high
schools," Cole said.

The school resource officer can help the remaining community safety
officer with DARE training, but the community safety program will do
less, he said.

The municipality recently hired three new officers, but the 52-person
department still has two fewer positions than it did in 1997.

Monroeville is the only police department of its size in the state
with two full-time community safety officers and a full-time juvenile
officer, Cole said.

Gateway and Monroeville will share the $75,000 cost of placing an
officer in the school. That cost-sharing might free up enough money
for council to hire another officer, Cole said.

Now is not the time to scale back drug and crime prevention programs,
Lomeo said.

"We have had three full-time (officers) in community safety for at
least nine years. Why cut back now, when we should be proactive with
our children and young adults?"

The municipality should have five officers handling community safety
and juvenile crime, he said. Three would be full time, and two would
patrol streets and randomly visit schools.