PINE TWP, Allegheny County — Even operating with a “skeleton crew” ahead of the holidays, Northern Regional Police Department was bustling with officers Friday, Dec. 22 — and smiles.

And the smiles weren’t just seasonal.

As the regional department begins a four-year contract with Seven Fields, Chief John Sicilia highlighted the “positive culture” of the organization’s 50-person team.

He said borough residents could expect “well-trained, empathetic and approachable” officers in the coming year.

“I always say, ‘We can make anyone a police officer; we can’t make anyone a good person,’” he said. “So we look for good people, and we turn them into good police officers.”

And with patrols beginning in the borough Tuesday, Dec. 26, Sicilia said the department is excited to bring those officers to local residents.

“We truly want to help,” he said, “and interact with the public.”

As opposed to more legalistic- or watchman-style organizations, Sicilia stressed that Northern Regional is a “service-oriented police department” valuing visibility in the community.

“I always tell our new guys, ‘Don’t ever pass up a lemonade stand — you always get out and talk to the kids,’” he said. “I had one of my officers who used to carry a hockey stick in the back of his car just to get out and shoot hockey with kids.”

And that dedication doesn’t stop at children, according to Sicilia, with the department meeting county officials Thursday to ensure a “seamless” partnership with local 911 services.

“The line of work we’re in isn’t something where you can have mistakes, and that was one of the key points that was made at the meeting,” he said. “There cannot be a missed call. That is not happening. It can be from the most minor ‘barking dog complaint’ to ‘a tragedy’ — there is zero room for error.”

With the department based in Allegheny County, Butler County commissioners recently voiced concerns to Northern Regional over cross-county 911 operations.

In a letter to Seven Fields, dated Dec. 14, the commissioners warned that Northern Regional’s response could be delayed without cross-county communication and access to the Butler County radio system.

The two counties and the department worked through a series of scenarios at Thursday’s meeting, according to Sicilia, addressing “all the concerns that were voiced in the letter.”

“Butler County, graciously enough, lent us radios, and we have an agreement with them,” he said. “So our officers will have direct communication.”

Sicilia said the department will further utilize a “system of redundancy” to ensure no call goes unanswered.

“Dispatch to dispatch, county to county and then also county to police officers,” he said. “So there’s different layers to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks.”

While the borough’s new $650,000 four-year policing agreement begins amid the ongoing dissolution of the Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police Department, Sicilia said he anticipates a “smooth transition.”

Seven Fields and Evans City have been heavily reliant on state police since March. With two remaining full-time officers in their regional department, both municipalities began moving toward dissolution during the summer.

“In every meeting that I’ve had with the leadership of Seven Fields, their concern was just for their residents,” Sicilia said. “I really applaud their commitment to their residents. They were genuinely just worried that they felt they had a lack of police protection.”

Northern Regional’s patrols were initially scheduled to begin Jan. 1, but the borough announced last week that the department would officially begin service Tuesday.

“They wanted to get police protection in as soon as possible,” Sicilia said. “We were able to get the agreement on our end signed, and our board was willing to start a little early — understanding the feeling of vulnerability the residents of Seven Fields were feeling.”

The department brings more than 50 officers and personnel to the borough including a full-time detective bureau, a special-response team and a traffic-enforcement detail.

Sicilia said the department would also have two K-9 officers — Theo and Hank — in the coming months, specializing in tracking and explosive detection.

“We are a self-sufficient department,” he said. “We don’t rely on outside agencies to come in, so if we have a fatal accident, if we have a violent crime, we handle everything ourselves.”

Sgt. Matthew Blough, who has served with the department for 20 years, said working in Seven Fields allows the officers to “really be public servants.”

“We get to do the things to actually help people, and that’s what we all got into this for,” Blough said. “Believe it or not, there’s still a lot of altruism — people become cops to help people — and bringing on Seven Fields allows us to do the stuff that we like to do.”

With the recent addition of Seven Fields, Northern Regional now represents five municipalities in the Greater Pittsburgh region including Pine, Marshall and Richland townships as well as the borough of Bradford Woods.

And while traffic control will remain “one of their bigger concerns” in the highly trafficked Seven Fields, Blough reiterated that the department would focus on “service-oriented” policing in the borough.

“So if somebody calls because they have a bat in their house, we’ll go get the bat out of there — I’ve done that before,” he said with a laugh. “The kind of problems that are a problem for places like Seven Fields, Bradford Woods or Marshall, they get the attention that the constituent wants it to get. This is not the city of Pittsburgh.”

Northern Regional was the first regional department in the state, according to Sicilia, setting the precedent for communities — such as Seven Fields — to pool their resources for a “deeper” police presence.

“This is a way of combining resources and providing services like proactive police work at a reasonable cost,” he said. “If each our municipalities were a standalone department, they wouldn’t be able to afford a 40-officer department with four detectives.”

Sicilia said he understood any apprehension about the change, but reassured residents they would have “the best-trained, best-equipped” officers.

“Crossing county lines, this doesn’t happen often — I’m not aware of it happening locally anywhere,” he said. “I take it as a huge compliment to our department that the leadership of Seven Fields was willing to give this a chance, and I give all the credit to my officers for the reputation that they have.”