Celina Kelly has made history once again.

The soft-spoken New Brighton resident and law enforcement veteran has become Sewickley Police Department’s first full-time female officer.

“It’s a nice community,” Kelly said shortly after being sworn in to her new role by Mayor George Shannon on June 10. “I’m still getting to know the community. I enjoy working with the guys here. They are all great officers, great guys to work with. They definitely make me feel part of the program here.”

Kelly, 29, was hired part-time by Sewickley in November and is familiar with most of the Quaker Valley area.

She became Leetsdale Police Department’s first full-time female officer in January 2024.

Leetsdale Mayor Sandra Ford swore Kelly in to her history-making role at that month’s council meeting.

Kelly plans to stay part-time on the Leetsdale force.

Ford said Kelly has been a tremendous asset and is sad to lose some of her time.

“We’re really sorry to see her go (full-time somewhere else),” Ford said. “She was a good officer, but I understand for her to improve her job, she had to move on to Sewickley. She said that she would stay on part-time. It was nice to be able to have her.”

Kelly said she had no problems in Leetsdale, and made the move to Sewickley for “more opportunity” and to work for a larger department.

Kelly was the sixth full-time officer in Leetsdale at the time of her hiring. That department also had two part-timers.

Sewickley has 12 full-time officers and six part-timers.

Sewickley Police Chief Dave Mazza said Kelly has been an outstanding officer and is not surprised she became the department’s first full-time female officer.

He cited law enforcement as a male-dominant career field and how other municipalities like Pittsburgh and larger departments like Allegheny County Police, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office may have special details or task forces that require female officers.

“I just need good people,” Mazza said. “I didn’t hire her because she’s a female. She’s a good person. She’s a good police officer. She’s a great employee. That’s why I wanted to hire her. She’s a good fit.”

Kelly echoed the chief’s comments.

“It’s 2025 and I’m just now the first full-time (female) in these departments, which is great,” she said. “There’s still not a lot of females doing this job. We’re still a small percent.”

According to a March 2024 report by the National Policing Institute, women make up about half of the U.S. population but only about 12% of police officers.

Quick resume look

Kelly started her law enforcement career in 2018 as a part-time officer in McKees Rocks.

She also worked part-time for various Beaver County police departments, including Freedom, Rochester, Conway and Baden.

She was an officer with the Beaver Valley Regional Police Department and served as a full-time humane officer for the Beaver County Humane Society.

Kelly said she was studying science at Bluefield College, now called Bluefield University, in Virginia, when she decided to switch her major to criminal justice. Her ultimate goal was about helping and protecting people.

“I fell in love with all my classes and decided this is the path I wanted to be on,” she said. “We see people at their worst times. It’s a good feeling to help them. No two days are the same. It’s always something different. You never know what any one day’s going to bring.”

Another officer promotion

Kelly was not the only Sewickley officer to reach full-time status on June 10.

Steven Berg, 47, of Cranberry, was sworn in to his new position with the assistance of his wife, Erin. They have been married for 21 years.

Berg has worked part-time in Sewickley for the past three years.

Berg said the best part about patrolling Sewickley is getting to know the residents and business owners.

“It’s just a great little town, a great business district, awesome people, and strong support in the community,” he said.

Berg served in the Cranberry Police Department for about 23 years. He worked his way up from patrolman to detective and retired as a sergeant in January 2024.

He said community policing in Cranberry was difficult compared to Sewickley due to the business area along Route 19 and the township’s multiple strip malls.

“You go from one strip mall to another strip mall to another strip mall,” Berg said. “There’s no real main street, no sidewalks. You don’t always get that public interaction and being able to just get out and talk to people.”

Grasping opportunity

The full-time spots became open following the retirement of officer Doug Maust and Sgt. Bob McNatt. Maust retired in December 2024 after working 12 years in Sewickley.

McNatt retired in late April after serving more than 30 years in Sewickley.

Maust was a retired captain of the Allegheny County Bureau of Corrections with a little more than 30 years in law enforcement when he joined Sewickley.

“He brought with him a lot of experience from a different side of law enforcement that police officers don’t normally deal with,” Mazza said. “Doug also had a calm demeanor. Very good at de-escalating. Very easy to get along with, which is half the battle sometimes.”

McNatt joined the borough force in 1992.

Mazza called him a tremendous asset to the borough with a gift for communication.

“Bob’s biggest strong point was getting people to talk to him, which for police sometimes is extremely difficult,” Mazza said. “It’s also extremely important. He has that way about him. Very approachable. People were very receptive to him. Very easy going and as a senior member of the department, we will definitely miss him.”

More than half the department came out to see Kelly and Berg become full-time officers.

“It definitely shows that we all support one another even with stuff like this,” Kelly said. “A lot of them were off duty and they still came out to see us get sworn in.”

Borough Manager Donna Kaib said the officers’ salaries went from $27.50 per hour part-time to $38.10 per hour full-time.

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