Westmoreland DA appoints 16 county officers to serve as liaisons to prosecutor's office

Law enforcement officers from across Westmoreland County have been tapped to serve as liaisons between their police departments and the office of District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli.

The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Law Enforcement Coalition was created to establish a line of communication between the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement agencies, determine their equipment and financial needs and to provide training, said Ziccarelli, who began her first term in January.

“Members will collaborate with local departments in their respective areas and relay critical information to my office,” Ziccarelli said. “This will assist us in recognizing needs across the county and ensuring our departments are well equipped and well trained.”

The 16 officers named to the coalition will serve a one-year term and hold quarterly meetings to exchange information.

Several of the appointed officers are not being named because of the sensitive nature of their work, the DA said.

The other officers participating in the coalition are: Off. Dan Cox, Murrysville Police Department; Off. Robert Hebenthal, Westmoreland County Park Police; Cpl. Dan Foster, North Huntingdon Police Department; Cpl. Jonathan Lindsay, Pennsylvania State Police; Ligonier Valley Police Chief John Berger; Ron Zona, chief of the Westmoreland County Detectives Bureau; Off. Brian Bartrug, Upper Burrell Police Department; Sgt. Dan Uncapher, Allegheny Township Police Department; Det. Sam Long, New Kensington Police Department and Det. Brandon Nedley, Lower Burrell Police Department.

The officers whose names are being withheld are from the Rostraver, Mt. Pleasant, Scottdale, Monessen, Latrobe, Greensburg and Penn Township police departments.

In addition to Ziccarelli, First Assistant District Attorney Chuck Washburn is participating in the coalition.

Ziccarelli said the coalition was created to provide Westmoreland County with “the most elite and fully funded law enforcement officers in the commonwealth.”

“It is my expectation that the DA Coalition will bridge the communication gap that exists from one end of the county to the other, build officer morale and strengthen community relations with law enforcement,” she said.

The district attorney said the safety of police officers is “at the forefront” of the coalition’s mission and that the training needs of each police department will be assessed on an ongoing basis “to ensure our officers have every resource available and are trained proficiently as laws and best practices evolve.”

Ziccarelli said the idea for organizing a coalition of police officers was spearheaded by the county’s chief Det. Ronald Zona. She said and she and Zona conceived of the communications effort after she met with as many as 30 different police departments in the three weeks prior to her taking office.

“The common theme was a lack of communication between the district attorney’s office and police,” Ziccarelli said. It became clear that “police departments don’t necessarily communicate with one another,” she said.

This effort will also formalize her ability to have routine discussions with local departments.

“This is a way to conduct these discussions in a more intimate and direct way,” Ziccarelli said.

Greensburg Police Chief Shawn Denning said he views the district attorney’s new program as “not fixing a problem just opening a line of communication.”

Greensburg police will have a representative on the initial panel. Denning said he envisions the group as opportunity for an open exchange of ideas and updates on ongoing investigations.

“You can’t have enough information, and it will be a great benefit. This is more of an organizational method and will enable us to have more consistent and constant communication,” Denning said. “We have talked before, but it was just not as consistent and easily accessible.”