Westmoreland police departments begin 'non-life-sustaining' business checks

are enforcing Gov. Wolf’s order similar to all the other Westmoreland County Departments.

Local police investigated a small number of reports of non-life-sustaining businesses still operating after Gov. Tom Wolf ordered enforcement of their closures starting at 8 a.m. Monday to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Wolf’s order prohibits the physical operations of businesses that the state deems as nonessential to remain open, such as car dealerships and dry cleaners. Some businesses successfully sought waivers to the order after the state was deluged with thousands of requests.

Businesses that can remain open include grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, beer distributors, auto parts stores, bakeries and restaurants offering takeout and delivery.

Residents can report businesses they believe are violating the order to state or local police. Reports should not be made to 911 but to the police department’s nonemergency phone number.

For the most part, police and local officials say they are taking an easy-as-you-go approach: Investigate first before taking legal action ranging from a citation up to a criminal offense.

New Kensington police received complaints Monday about a dozen businesses that residents didn’t think should be open, Chief Bob Deringer said.

They directed callers to state police and other local police departments for 10 complaints, which were for businesses in surrounding municipalities but that had a New Kensington ZIP code.

But for two complaints in the city, police investigated and found that a tax business and a medical testing facility were both authorized by the state to stay open, Deringer said.

If there are complications in determining if a business should stay open, there is a process to follow, said Deringer, who discussed enforcement issues with the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.

“If the business wants to submit a waiver, they should do it,” he said. “If they do not have a waiver on hand, they have to close until the waiver is received.”

Since the state is still deciding on which businesses can get a waiver, the Allegheny Valley Regional Police will let state police handle cases in Cheswick and Springdale, said Michael Girardi, a Cheswick councilman and a commissioner on the regional police board.

“We have had more or less compliance here,” Girardi said. But if there is a business that is questionable, “our officers will get the information from the business and try to involve state police. The state has been constantly changing the list of what is an essential business.” The list is published on the DCED website, dced.pa.gov.

Greensburg police started looking Monday for potential violators but didn’t turn up much so far.

“I think people around here appear to be pretty compliant and following the governor’s guidelines,” Capt. Robert Stafford said. “I just don’t expect to see a lot of it. But if we do, we’ll warn them and go from there.”

State police are taking the same tack, educating businesses first before getting entangled in the courts, said Ryan Tarkowski, a state police spokesman in Harrisburg.

“People can be cited,” he said. “There are summary offenses, but we are expecting voluntary compliance. There’s not going to be teams of police going door to door.”

Officers in some departments would first offer a warning. Jeannette police Chief Shannon Binda said an investigation would determine what an officer’s next steps would be.

“If they are found to be noncompliant, then we move forward in the process,” he said.

Penn Township police “will investigate anything that we see and believe is an obvious violation of the order,” Chief John Otto said.

“So far, everyone is self-complying,” said Irwin Police Chief Roger Pivirotto of the non essential life-sustaining businesses in the borough. “We’re trying to get them to volunteer to close.”

Pivirotto said he is working on a directive for his officers, based on similar instructions from the Pennsylvania State Police. Westmoreland County District Attorney also sent the police information about the governor’s orders.

The information he initially received from the state was “vague,” said Pivirotto, a former state police commander.

What makes it difficult for the officers is trying to determine, in some cases, which are considered non life sustaining businesses, Pivirotto. In some cases, businesses have received an exemption or have applied for one, Pivirotto said,

Anyone found not complying can be cited for a summary offense, Pivirotto said.

North Huntingdon Police Chief Robert Rizzo said his department is enforcing Gov. Wolf’s order similar to all the other police departments in the county.

Officials in Freeport, Lower Burrell and Upper Burrell said there were no reports of businesses breaking Wolf’s order Monday.