East Deer adds 2 part-time police officers, including Officer Brian Shaw Scholarship recipient

East Deer now has enough police officers to cover all shifts with the addition of two part-timers, including a recipient of an Officer Brian Shaw Scholarship.

Township Commissioners on Wednesday hired Steven Edwards, 24, of Lower Burrell and Olivier Jean-Gilles, 25, of Scott Township as part-time officers. They will make $17 an hour.

Edwards graduated from the Allegheny County Police Training Academy, and Jean-Gilles is a graduate of the Criminal Justice Training Center at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. With their hires, the township has eight part-time officers.

Commissioners Chairman Tony Taliani said the hires bring East Deer’s police department to its full complement.

“That covers all of our shifts,” Taliani said.

Before the hires, the department had six part-time officers and one full-timer, Chief John Manchini said. Manchini didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Taliani voted in favor of hiring the two part-timers along with Commissioners Edward Kissel, Joseph Novosat Jr., John Nwranski and Rick Stoneburner.

Edwards was a recipient of an Officer Brian Shaw Scholarship, which reimburses graduates from the Allegheny County Police Training Academy. Jean-Gilles was president of his graduating class, according to Taliani.

Taliani said both men are quality candidates. He doubts they will be with the township long.

“We’ve been very fortunate over the years to have quality part-time police officers that work all over the country now,” Taliani said.

This is Edwards’ second part-time police job. He was hired as a part-time officer in Frazer this month.

Brian Shaw, for whom the scholarship Edwards received is named, graduated from the Allegheny County Police Training Academy in 2014. He worked for the Frazer and East Deer departments before joining New Kensington police in June 2017. He was killed in the line of duty in November 2017.

“Brian was an outstanding young man and a great officer. He was a great loss to our department and all the other ones that he was working at,” Taliani said. “I think it’s fantastic that (Edwards) got the scholarship in his honor. He seems like a great young man, also.”

Edwards said the decision to try to work for both departments came from conversations with the Shaw family, who spoke highly of both departments and chiefs.

“I am truly excited and honored that both departments hired me and believed that I would be a good fit in their respective departments,” Edwards said. “I hope to make the communities I serve proud, and I hope to make the Shaw family proud, as well.”

Of Jean-Gilles, Taliani said, “He’s a top-notch individual.”

Jean-Gilles is looking forward to getting to work.

“I’m just pretty excited. I just want to get out there,” Jean-Gilles said.