Residents of Gilpin and Freeport officially have a new regional police department.

The Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department held a pinning and inaugural first shift ceremony Wednesday morning at the Gilpin Municipal Building.

The new police force combines the Freeport and Gilpin police departments, providing 24-hour police coverage for both communities.

The merger was approved by each municipality in August.

It became the first regional police department in Armstrong County.

Southern Armstrong Regional Chief Christopher Fabec, who was the Gilpin chief, officiated during the early morning ceremony, pinning new badges on the officers in attendance.

“I’m excited for the growth that we’re able to sustain and the resources we now have,” Fabec said.

The merger resulted in a combined force of six full-time officers, including Fabec, and three part-timers.

The department has approval to hire another full-time patrolman, for a total of 10 officers, and Fabec said they are in the hiring process.

Gilpin-based police dog Rudy will expand his coverage duties, also patrolling in Freeport.

Six years old, Rudy is a Belgian Malinois who received his K9 certification from the North American Police Dog Work Association and joined the Gilpin Police Department in 2019.

Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review Southern Armstrong Regional police Chief Christopher Fabec brought police dog Rudy to the pinning ceremony Wednesday at the Gilpin Municipal Building.  

In addition to Fabec, the department’s police officers are Cpl. Jodi Greiser; Cpl. Hunter Tackett; and patrolmen William Rapone, Theodore Bajack Jr., Dante Martinez, Dawn Frejkowski, Jeremy Adamson and Brandon Schaber.

Gilpin has just under 3,000 residents residing within 19 square miles. Freeport occupies less than 2 square miles.

In a show of support, Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department Police Chief Mike Naviglia attended Wednesday’s ceremony.

“I’ve always been a big supporter of regionalization because there’s less confusion and more accuracy,” Naviglia said. “You don’t have one department have an incident and not tell the other department. They’re together, so there’s no loss of communication.”

The Allegheny Valley department polices Cheswick, Springdale Township and East Deer.

“Mike’s been a mentor of mine for quite some time, so he was a valuable resource for this, and he trained me and my dogs,” Fabec said.

Fabec said the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

“All of the feedback from Freeport has been positive,” he said. “They were having issues with their police department. We won’t have those issues anymore.”

Freeport’s interest in a possible consolidation began last year after former Freeport police Chief Matthew Feldmeier left his job after his first shift Nov. 3.

That left the borough’s population of about 1,700 residents without police coverage.

Freeport Councilman Joshua James attended Wednesday’s ceremony and talked about some past issues.

“We went through a rough spot at the end of 2021. We had resignations of our chief, a patrolman, and only had one police officer in Freeport for quite some time,” James said. “This bolsters our departments — combining assets and resources. It seemed like a natural fit.”

Under the arrangement, Gilpin will pay 60% of the department’s operating costs and Freeport will cover 40%.

Both municipalities paid $10,000 to finance initial costs that included changing police vehicle identifications and bank paperwork.

Freeport’s 2022 police budget is $219,000 and Gilpin’s is $340,000.

For each shift, two officers will be on duty and will cover both communities.

Between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m., there will be one officer on duty who will cover both communities. That officer will rotate between the communities at unpredictable times to deter criminals from identifying any patterns of patrol.

Greiser, who previously worked full time in Freeport, said the department responds to more calls in Gilpin.

“It’s amazing because it’s beneficial for both areas, and there will always be someone on patrol 365 days a year, 24/7,” she said. “Prior to this, we didn’t have that in Freeport.”

Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review Southern Armstrong Regional Cpl. Jodi Greiser and Patrolman William Rapone attend a pinning ceremony for officers Wednesday on the first day of the newly merged police force at the Gilpin Municipal Building.  

Gilpin Supervisor Charles Stull began exploring the possibility of a merger after being elected in 2018.

“It’s progress, and there was overwhelming support for this from both communities,” Stull said.

The new department will offer an increase in police coverage, he said.

“The officers will have more backup when they need it because there’s been times that they’ve responded to some pretty dangerous calls with no backup immediately available, waiting on state police, which can sometimes take upwards of 45 minutes,” Stull said.

Bajack said the new department will provide for bigger and better police coverage.

“It’s nice to see two departments combined with not a lot of people wanting to get into law enforcement now,” he said. “It’s nice to see resources come together. Making one bigger department will allow for more specialized training.”

Stull estimated the merger will save Gilpin as much as $50,000 per year. Freeport Council President Clint Warnock said his community will save about $25,000 annually.

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