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Council members wanted to know why borough officer was working in Wyoming school.
WEST PITTSTON – The way police officers are connected to various municipalities became part of a discussion between Mayor Bill Goldsworthy and borough council Tuesday, after questions were raised about a borough officer conducting DARE programs in a neighboring borough.
Goldsworthy noted that when officer Joseph Campbell was teaching the Drug Abuse Resistance Education classes in schools, he would be paid by Wyoming Borough, where he also served as a police officer. He would wear his Wyoming uniform in Wyoming schools and his West Pittston uniform when conducting the classes in West Pittston schools, the mayor said.
Like many officers in the Wyoming Valley, Campbell works as a police officer in more than one municipality. The practice is common in municipalities that have few or no full-time positions.
The state had not funded the DARE program this year, and Campbell had requested and been granted a 3 to 11 p.m. shift assignment, which was outside the hours when school was in session, Goldsworthy told council.
Last year the borough covered the cost by having Campbell work a dayshift that coincided with school hours, and because the grant had not been awarded that year it absorbed the cost of the program through the police budget.
Councilman Pete Musinski noted the borough had paid for the original DARE training for the officer. With the financing of part of the program now being taken over by another municipality, it appeared as if West Pittston was losing control over the program, he said.
In other business, council agreed to a request from the police officers to reopen the police contract for a number of small changes. The contract doesn’t expire for 14 months, and the changes will not significantly impact the borough’s finances, council President Brian Thornton said after the meeting.
On behalf of the borough, Thornton also honored officer Mike Turner with a letter of commendation related to his work on Aug. 3.
Turner was off duty when he learned of multiple burglaries late that evening, and after reporting to the first crime scene, he then spent the overnight at the police station processing suspects before returning to the police station later in the day to work a full shift.
Turner’s actions went above and beyond the call of duty, Thornton said.