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Versailles reinstates its three police officers

Versailles reinstates its three police officers

After a year of legal wrangling and theatrical public meetings, a newly empowered Versailles Council resurrected the disbanded borough police force, undoing the political and legal drama of 2009 in a half-hour meeting last Thursday.

At 12:01 a.m. Monday, borough officers began patrolling in a used 2005 Crown Victoria, purchased over the weekend, and using a police radio bought for $100 from a local taxi operator.

Six council members -- Cheryl D'Antonio, Frank Bunda, James Sheedy, Joel Yeckel, Cynthia Richards and Vice President Anita Gricar -- voted to bring back the police force.

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The six also voted to pay back the three officers for the year they were furloughed -- about $130,000 -- a move that required a 2-mill tax boost, increasing the rate to 8 mills for the coming year.

Council President Linda Sheedy abstained from the first two votes because her brother, Sgt. Charles Roka, was one of the furloughed police officers.

The move came one year and one day after the previous council voted with a bare majority to furlough the three-member department, sell the police vehicle, lock up the office that served as police headquarters and contract with neighboring White Oak for police protection.

None of the council members who voted to disband the department remain.

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In the meetings that led up to the department's disbandment, residents regularly gathered to lampoon council members who supported furloughing the police. Meetings became so charged that Allegheny County police officers were requested to escort out unruly participants.

Council members were elated at the return of the department.

"I had one man say, 'I can sleep better knowing that we have our own police,' " Ms. Sheedy said.

Ms. Gricar, Mayor James Fleckenstein and Chief William Kruczek could not be reached for comment.

The journey to bring back the department was fraught with lawsuits and legal fees. Shortly after council voted to disband the police last January, then-mayor Emerson Fazekas attempted to veto the measure.

But George Gobel, then the borough's solicitor, said the mayor had no right to veto because the move was administrative and not legislative. Under borough code, mayors can veto only legislation.

Mr. Fazekas disagreed and sued in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. In June, a judge agreed that Mr. Fazekas' veto should stand.

On July 20, a judge ruled again in Mr. Fazekas' favor. But Mr. Gobel instructed an outside attorney he was contracting with to file an appeal 10 days later.

A newly organized council voted to fire Mr. Gobel and drop the appeal at the beginning of this month. Council voted to hire Patricia McGrail, who once represented Mr. Fazekas, as solicitor.

On Jan. 19, Ms. D'Antonio, chairwoman of the public safety committee, met with Ms. McGrail and Chief Kruczek to forge an agreement to bring back the department.

Ms. Sheedy said Ms. McGrail told council that because of their contract, the three officers would have to be paid regardless of whether they worked.

So, for her, the decision to bring back police was a fiscal one as well as an answer to her constituents.

"I'm not going to pay anyone to sit on their rear end," Ms. Sheedy said.

Mr. Sheedy said that although he was pleased with the White Oak police, they did not have the time or resources to give the same level of attention to Versailles as the borough's own force had done.

He recalled Versailles police stopping at playgrounds to introduce themselves and returning bikes to kids who had left them on a sidewalk.

"It's a community police force," Mr. Sheedy said. "They know the community, and the community knows them, and they should have never left."

First Published: January 28, 2010, 11:15 a.m.

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