Residents speak out; Tamaqua will hire full-time chief

The borough of Tamaqua will be advertising for a new, full-time police chief after an outcry from the community Tuesday night.

Late last week, comments began appearing on social media indicating the borough was considering replacing the full-time position with a part-time one. Word had spread that council was looking to bring back Rick Weaver as a part-time chief. Weaver had to retire Feb. 28 to fulfill his commitment to a Deferred Retirement Option Plan.

At Tuesday’s meeting Councilman Brian Connely gave credence to those rumors by making a motion to consider a part-time chief’s position, including a 29-hour workweek.

Connely cited a $56,000 annual savings, versus an alternative plan to promote an officer within the department to chief and keep the full-time officer complement at eight, which would only save the department $31,000. Since Weaver’s retirement, the police department has been under the direction of officer in charge Cpl. Dwayne Hacker.

Council President Dave Mace opened the discussion by telling the audience the public safety committee had held at least eight executive sessions about the police chief’s position “over the past weeks.”

Mayor Nathan Gerace questioned Connely’s numbers and also questioned how the decision would affect morale in the department.

“We need to think about preparing for the next five to 10 years, not just two to three,” Gerace said.

A standing-room-only crowd quickly chimed in, vehemently disagreeing with the motion.

Connely said when the police chief retired in February, the department had nine full-time officers, including the chief. By promoting from within, the department would be down to eight full-time officers.

“When we had eight officers before, we had to cover a lot with part-time officers,” he said. Councilwoman Mary Linkevich expressed surprise that the mayor would recommend decreasing the number of full-time officers. “Everything we’ve heard is that people want more police,” she said.

Firsthand knowledge

John Sienkiewicz, resident and member of the Safer Streets organization, has witnessed firsthand the ill-effects that drugs have had on the community. His daughter, Alex, died of a drug overdose.

“Tamaqua is the second-largest municipality in Schuylkill County and we’ve had one of the largest crime rates in the county,” he said.

“It’s gotten better because of what our council, what our borough has been doing,” Sienkiewicz said. “We do not want a part-time chief. We do not deserve a part-time chief.”

Gerace, who earlier in the meeting said he had been excluded from some of the executive sessions, asked if the police department had been consulted about the proposition.

“Our public does not want this, and I don’t believe our police department wants this either,” he said.

Connely responded that the attorney representing the Fraternal Order of Police had been contacted.

Tamaqua police officer Michael Hobbs, who attended the meeting, spoke up and said their lodge had never been reached out to and that if they had been, they would have indicated they did not support a part time chief.

Resident Charles Rodgers asked council if it had considered how many full-time officers the department might lose if it proceeded with the plan.

“This gives them no incentive. They will be out looking for new jobs, that’s what I know,” he said. Rodgers asked why the borough hasn’t considered lowering the borough manager’s position to 29 hours a week or reducing the schedules of any other borough positions instead of the police department. “The bottom line is that the people of this town don’t want a part-time chief,” he said.

Council President Mace clarified that with a full-time, salaried chief, the expectation was there would be off-hour responsibility, and that would continue with the part-time position.

“We’d have 139 hours of off duty availability, and the position would only pay for 29 hours,” he said.

Tammy Sienkiewicz responded, “Those 11 hours make a difference, and that $20,000 is not worth burying our kids.”

Former councilman Justin Startzel also criticized the plan. “We’ve given this police department the best possible equipment we can give them, and then we take away a full-time chief. This is sending the wrong message to the drug dealers and to the community organizers who are working against them.”

Throughout the course of the meeting, many comments were made regarding the effectiveness of both the outgoing police chief and the current officer in charge and the department. Both the public and council agreed that Weaver had done an excellent job and that the department under Hacker has been proceeding smoothly.

After close to an hour of the public expressing its unhappiness with the part-time chief proposal, Connely threw in the towel.

“We get it. We needed to bring this up and have this discussion. If the public is not happy with that, I will rescind my motion.”

Connely went on to say that council is still going to look at how to generate the revenue needed to operate the borough.

“These are tough decisions. We have to find ways to make money. We can’t come every time and say, we need to cut this and cut that. We are out of options and we’re trying to think outside of the box.”

Council voted to review the requirements for the full-time position and advertise for a full-time chief.