Three months into his service as acting police chief of Penn Hills, Jason Bonace has never felt more satisfied with his life.

“About one month after I started this role was the first time in my 48 years of life that I felt content, and it’s a really good feeling,” Bonace said.

Bonace told community members about himself and his hopes for the police department Nov. 12 during the third installment of the Penn Hills Rotary Club’s community speaker series at the Penn Hills Library.

Multiple Penn Hills officials attended the event, including Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese who briefly addressed the crowd of about 34 attendees to publicly thank and congratulate Bonace.

Calabrese said she spoke with Penn Hills municipal Solicitor Craig Alexander about advising the personnel board so she can ask Penn Hills Council to vote on appointing Bonace to permanent chief of police.

“In lieu of doing a national search, by hiring from within, we will save taxpayers thousands of dollars,” Calabrese said. “Chief Bonace is perfect for the position given his demonstrated experience and competence.”

Councilman Alan Waldron also briefly addressed the audience to explain that while Bonace technically is “not eligible to apply for the job he has currently” due to some stipulations in the municipal code, Waldron and other council members are working on revising the code.

One such stipulation is a requirement that the applicant “must have achieved the rank of lieutenant,” which Bonace has not, according to Waldron.

“His highest rank was actually just an officer, but he had so much respect from his peers and the rest of the department that we figured if there was a time to take a risk and try something new, this was it, and it went really well,” Waldron said. “All we have to do now is amend that part of the code, and then whenever we open it up, he’ll be eligible to apply for the job he has.”

Waldron said he and other council members will create a new ordinance and change the code “hopefully by January.”

Bonace reflected on his career — from serving as class president and graduating as valedictorian from Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s police academy, to spending two years with the University of Pittsburgh Police Department.

In July 2005, Bonace joined the Penn Hills Police Department, where his training officer, Sgt. Benjamin “Buck” Westwood, took him “under his wing” and taught him to value compassion and empathy in law enforcement.

“A lot of times when we come in contact with people, they’re having their worst day. So I learned that a lot of times they just want somebody to listen to them,” Bonace said.

As acting chief, Bonace wants to instill this lesson into the younger officers and lead the force to become even more of a “community-oriented police department” by building up their relationships with local schools and businesses.

“That’s why I got into law enforcement. I didn’t get into it for the arresting powers,” he said. “I wanted to connect with people, know people and help people.”

For the question-and-answer session, Bonace discussed several topics submitted by the audience on index cards.

In response to a question concerning soliciting on private property, Bonace said solicitors must apply for permits which are approved or denied by the Penn Hills police after background checks.

“I’ve denied a couple people based on their backgrounds. It’s not to say that they weren’t necessarily good people,” Bonace said. “But some of the things that I observed in their background was fairly recent, and I wouldn’t want them knocking on doors based on what I saw.”

After attendees voiced concerns about speeding and other traffic issues, Bonace brought traffic specialist Officer Christofer Broker to the podium. Broker encouraged the audience to ask him questions directly.

Broker, who currently is the only traffic specialist on the force, said at one point in time the Penn Hills department had as many as seven traffic specialists, but over time retirements and promotions depleted the number and this void has led to an abandoned vehicle issue.

“It is a very tedious process. I’ve tagged over 900 vehicles since I started in the traffic position — that’s within the last two years,” Broker said.

According to Broker, the police must check on the abandoned vehicle three additional times after tagging it before they can tow it.

Bonace said another officer will be starting in the traffic specialist position in January. Besides the additional officer, Broker said he will continue to use the tools he has, including a portable variable message sign which can collect traffic data, to address speeding and other traffic concerns.

Broker said he wants to continue to hear feedback from community members at traffic safety committee meetings, which take place at 6:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of every month at the government center, 102 Duff Road.

Penn Hills Manager Scott Andrejchak, who also attended the event, said the municipal government will look into traffic calming policy solutions next year and he is excited to see Bonace “continue to move Penn Hills in the right direction.”

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