Transparency major focus of Northern Regional police
Nicholas Menchyk and his wife Laura attended the Seven Fields council meeting on Monday, June 9. The young couple, who moved into a new home on Dorchester Drive just a couple of years ago, expressed concern about the speed of some of the drivers who pass their home.
“I work from home, and I can see it all the time right out my front window,” Nicholas Menchyk said at the meeting. “Due to the location where we are on top of the hill, drivers coming off north ridge are accelerating up the hill and when they get to the flat part, they’re exceeding the speed limit by probably a significant margin.”
Thankfully, a new mainstay at Seven Fields council meetings is the presence of Chief of Police John Sicilia of the Northern Regional Police Department.
“We have a traffic unit and they’re pretty aggressive,” Sicilia told the concerned resident after going over his monthly report. “For a small community like this, we’re making a lot of traffic stops, but I’ll certainly pass it along first thing in the morning.”
It’s been more than six months since the North Regional Police Department started patrolling Seven Fields after the borough dissolved their regional department with Evans City. Chief Sicilia said he wants to make transparency a key part of the new relationship as part of the department’s “community first” policy. From his monthly reports to his officers’ presence throughout the community, Sicilia said he believes the community already is seeing a positive impact.
“I feel this relationship is going very well,” Sicilia said. “I hear my officers speak frequently about positive interactions they are having with community members.”
The police force also serves Pine, Marshall and Richland townships and Bradford Woods Borough. To provide adequate coverage to all areas of operation, Sicilia said the department splits up the jurisdiction into zones which overlap multiple communities to maximize coverage.
Sicilia said while his officers have been well trained and are provided the “best equipment and support,” there is a specific quality he looks for when hiring those who patrol the area.
“We can teach anyone to be a police officer, but we can’t teach you to be a good person,” he said. “We find good people, hire them and make them excellent officers.”
Sicilia said the officers now patrolling Seven Fields are up to the task.
“You will not find a harder working, more dedicated, empathetic group of police officers anywhere in the region,” the police chief said. “I am very proud to lead this team.”
