McKeesport police officers receive new bulletproof vests

By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Four McKeesport police officers have new bulletproof vests thanks to the McKeesport Safety Initiative.
Members of the McKeesport International Association of Firefighters joined forces with McKeesport Area school board President Joe Lopretto, a group of teachers from the district and Mary of Nazareth Catholic School in White Oak a few years ago to create the initiative, which annually raises money for various safety and wellness initiatives throughout McKeesport via a fundraiser held at Clancy’s Pub in Dravosburg.
During that annual event, a team of firefighters, a team of teachers and a team of police officers compete by taking turns tending bar at Clancy’s.
“We like to make it into a competition to kind of inspire everyone to try harder to get good tips,” Lopretto, a retired McKeesport police officer said. “We get competitive within each group and try to raise more money than the other teams.”
“The fire department won the last couple of years, but I think they cheated,” Lopretto said through laughter. “No, I’m just kidding, it’s all in good fun. But I do have to say the police officers won this year and we’re going to do the same thing next year.”
In the end, tips each group raises during the event, along with money raised via gift auctions, a 50/50 and the sale of T-shirts designed by firefighter Matt Holtzman that said “This T-shirt helped keep a police officer safe,” are put into the McKeesport Safety Initiative fund.
This year, the three groups raised a combined total of $22,000 during the Clancy’s event.
A large portion of that money is being used later this year to purchase winter coats for kids who attend Twin Rivers Elementary School — every student will receive a new jacket.
The firefighters, who manage the fund, gave out $4,000 last month to Mary of Nazareth. That money is being used to put protective films on classroom windows that will prevent the glass from shattering should an intruder ever try to break into a classroom.
In previous years, the money has also been used to buy a new outdoor metal detector for McKeesport Area, install classroom door locks at Mary of Nazareth and to put protective films over interior classroom windows at Serra Catholic High School, which is located in the City’s Haler Heights neighborhood.
“We made more money than we could have imagined,” firefighter Rob Patterson said. Patterson is Lopretto’s “right-hand man” and leads the effort to organize the safety initiative fundraiser every year. He said he and his “brothers” from the firefighters union made a decision to help out the police department by buying bulletproof vests.
“These men and women protect us every single day, and they helped us raise a lot of the money at this year’s event at Clancy’s,” Patterson said. “It is our pleasure to present these vests to our police officers.”
The officers who will be donning the vests are Capt. Chris Halaszynski, officer Dan Krejdovsky, officer Michele Melli and assistant Chief Chris “Chip” Olinsky.
“We are so thankful to the McKeesport firefighters for using part of the McKeesport Safety Initiative funds to purchase new bulletproof vests,” Halaszynski said. “All of the police officers who will wear these vests helped raise money during the event and helped sell T-shirts. I am proud to say that I sold 40 of those T-shirts myself.
“We are proud to work alongside our city’s firefighters and are grateful to them and our great teachers from McKeesport Area and Mary of Nazareth for helping to raise these fund. This effort was really an excellent showing of what it means to come together for a better McKeesport.”
A portion of the money raised at Clancy’s was also donated to a few McKeesport-based little league teams, according to Patterson.