Ross swears in 5 new cops; 4 more could come on board this year

Five recently hired Ross Township police officers were sworn in on Feb. 4 by District Judge Richard Opiela.

The officers — Nathan Roy, Christopher Shortley, Troy Modrak, Kevin Novak and Jason Gilotty — were hired by unanimous vote on Jan. 7.

The new officers will be paired with a field training officer during 24 weeks of training designed to help them become integrated into the department and the community in which they will serve.

The officers were hired on the same night the township commissioners honored four recently retired police officers for their years of service to the community.

During the Feb. 4 commissioners meeting, police Chief Joe Ley requested that the township’s Civil Service Commission create a hiring list from which the police department can select candidates for positions that could come open this year.

“We used the entire list for this last hiring,” Ley told the commissioners. “This year there are four officers who are eligible to retire. I ask that we stay ahead of this and extend this (new) eligibility list into the next two years so we are ready (to hire officers) when the time comes.”

When fully staffed, the Ross Police Department has 43-full time sworn officers, which includes the chief, two lieutenants, seven sergeants, four detectives, four traffic officers and 25 patrol officers. The department also has 21 school crossing cards and a three dog K9 unit.

Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tony at 724-772-6368 or tlarussa@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TonyLaRussaTrib.