SEVEN FIELDS, Pa. — Seven Fields is the latest community to have their municipal police services covered by a regional force.
Over the past year, several local forces have closed, or combined with neighboring towns, as the number of police officers continues to dwindle.
Channel 11 took a look at the communities impacted by merging departments in the areas served by western Pennsylvania’s longest-running regionalized force and the newest department to hit the streets.
For Officer Devon Siegfried at Northern Regional Police. He’s one of 41 officers at the department. His typical day on duty is mostly spent behind the wheel.
“This is like my mobile office in here. I have the ability to talk to other officers, talk to dispatch center, answer calls, type reports,” said Officer Devon Siegfried.
“I’ll probably go 100 miles a day in the grand scheme of things,” said Officer Devon Siegfried.
Patrolling Bradford Woods, Richland Township, Pine Township and Marshall Township known as Northern Regional.
“We were the first true regional police department in the state of Pennsylvania which started in 1969,” said Chief John Sicilia, Northern Regional Police.
Now more than ever before, Chief Sicilia said police departments are dealing with staffing concerns.
“With Covid and calling for police reform, that deterred a lot of people from getting into law enforcement. It probably caused a lot of retirements, and we aren’t able to backfill,” said Chief John Sicilia, Northern Regional Police. “So departments had to get creative to recruit and retain officers. We are all competing for the same small pole of candidate. I’ve never seen so many police departments hiring at one time as I have right now.”
Right now, there are more than 35 regional police agencies in Pennsylvania representing about 125 municipalities. Most of them formed in the past 10 years.
One of the newest covers Freedom, Conway, Baden, and Rochester Township, together known as Beaver Valley Regional.
“I think it’s a good solution for everybody’s problem, especially here in Beaver County.,” said Sgt. Derek Shipley for Beaver Valley Regional Police.
There are benefits to merging into a bigger force like reduced costs. The operating costs for regional departments are on average almost 25% less than traditional police forces according to the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development.
However, there are some concerns. Some people are worried about delayed response times. Chief Sicilia said if anything, the response is quicker because they have several officers spread across their area covering different zones at all times.
“We are always out here whether or not we are visible at the time, you can guarantee we are out here in full force,” said Officer Siegfried.
Siegfried said as a regional officer, it’s critical to get involved in the community.
“When people call the police, it’s usually on their worst day, so if we can make it a little more comfortable, then it’s great for us,” said Officer Siegfried.
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