Conway, Freedom, Baden police forces to merge into new Beaver Valley Regional department

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa — Conway, Freedom and Baden police departments are now officially one: Beaver Valley Regional.

This department is the first of its kind for Beaver County.

“I do believe the future is the regionalization and that all the smaller departments will have to go this route,” said Debbie Rose, Conway’s mayor.

The department will now have 11 full-time officers, which is a huge improvement for the small towns. Rose said before the merger, Freedom had no department of its own

“There is usually one, one and a half, two officers out at a time and back-ups would go to the other surrounding towns,” said Rose. “So now we will have more on full-time at the same time.”

It’s a police department three decades in the making according to Baden councilmember Michael Stuban, who has attempted to create a regional force several times before but failed. In January, the three towns finally voted yes.

“When you know it has to happen, when you know the resources aren’t there anymore, you’ve got to start thinking outside the box,” Stuban said.

Stuban and leadership agree that this merger will not only enhance resources now but place them in a position to grow.

“We are looking into other services, looking into possibly a canine unit in the future a specialized officer possibly a detective,” Stuban said. “I think that only good will come of this.”

Mayor Rose says while the news is exciting, a new name and new department, she is happy there will still be a lot of old faces on the force

“They’ll see the same familiar faces, the cars will be different because of the logo, but other than that there should not be any change,” Rose said.

The swearing-in ceremony for the 11 new officers will take place Saturday afternoon.

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