Verona officials add new vehicle, 3 officers to its police department, cameras to come

Verona officials recently hired three part-time officers and added a new vehicle to the police department.

The additions bring the borough force to three full-timers, including Chief Ron McLemore, and six part-time officers.

“They’re good assets to this department,” McLemore said. “We’re excited to have them.”

The new hires include Fred Hockenberry of Apollo, Brian Bradford of Worthington and Zachary Janocko of Monroeville.

Hockenberry worked as an officer in Gilpin before being hired in Verona. He also serves as an officer in Arnold.

Bradford, a Greene County Regional Police officer, also worked for Braddock police prior to coming to Verona.

Janocko recently graduated from the Allegheny County Police Academy. He was hired this month. Hockenberry and Bradford were hired earlier this year.

“All three are kind of different, from a young kid we just hired to someone who’s very seasoned,” Councilman Mike Forbek said. “It gives us more eyes on the street and relief to those working.”

Mayor David Ricupero said he would like to add at least another part-timer, if not more, next year.

“I’m trying to build the department to where we have two officers on every shift, seven days a week,” he said. “It gets tough scheduling because officers work other places.”

All three were hired under the borough’s new police payroll policy. Council earlier this year approved bumping part-timer pay from $16 per hour to $20 per hour, and added other incentives to join and stay on the force.

The borough pays officer health insurance as long as they work at least 24 hours per week, and will pay out a $2,000 bonus in January to officers that average 32 hours per week the prior year.

“Like everyone else, we’ve had a hard time getting police to apply,” Borough Manager Jerry Kenna said. “We came up with a compensation package a little outside the box in order to get some people to apply.

“We need police and right now. It’s a problem that every community is dealing with. The town is growing. We have property values that continue to go up, new families are moving into town and we need to work hard to make sure that the town stays a safe community. Investing in the police department is a crucial part of that.”

The borough also invested in the department’s vehicle fleet. It purchased a new 2020 Ford Explorer to replace a 2012 Crown Victoria.

“It was time to replace it,” McLemore said of the old cruiser. “It’s got eight years and a lot of miles. The borough is taking care of the police department and updating equipment.”

The new SUV was purchased from McCandless Ford and outfitted in related law enforcement equipment by Ibis Tek in Butler. Total cost was about $42,400.

The borough also plans to buy body cameras for officers and install new security cameras in various parts of the town next year.

Ricupero said the equipment upgrades are for everyone’s safety.

“I think it’s not only a countrywide situation, but a worldwide situation,” the mayor said. “Things aren’t like they used to be. We have a lot of traffic coming through town. We want to update the department and keep up with the times.

”We’re not the only ones getting body cameras. All departments around us have them pretty much. It’s not only going to protect the officers, but citizens. We’ll know what’s going on, and nobody can be accused of anything.”

Forbek also supported the mayor’s suggestion to hire another officer this coming year but does not believe another police car would be purchased until at least 2022 barring an emergency.