Monongahela OKs jail-cell contract with Charleroi Regional Police

By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com

The Charleroi Regional Police Department will now be able to detain prisoners in Monongahela.
By a 3-2 vote Wednesday night, Monongahela council approved a Municipal Services Agreement to permit the Charleroi Regional Police Department to house detainees in jail cells at the Monongahela Police Department. Charleroi Regional Police does not have a holding cell.
Mayor Greg Garry and council members Ken Kulak and Claudia Williams voted yes on the motion. Councilmen Darryl Miller and William Polonoli voted against the agreement.
Terms of the agreement state Charleroi Regional Police Department will pay Monongahela $30 an hour with a four-hour minimum to hold its detainees at the city’s jail cells.
Monongahela Solicitor Todd Pappasergi said the borough will be billed by rounding up to the next hour.
“If they hold a detainee from 7 p.m. to 11:01 p.m., invoice Charleroi for five hours,” he said.
Pappasergi also said he’s solicitor for both Monongahela and the Charleroi Regional Police Department, which could cause a conflict of interest.
Pappasergi said if a conflict of interest arises, he will be forced to withdraw from his position as counsel, but can return to the position once the matter between the two is resolved.
In other matters involving the Monongahela Police Department Wednesday, council wants to upgrade its video-camera system at City Hall, which includes upgrading cameras inside the police department’s jail cells.
The cost of installing eight new cameras inside the building is $5,629.80, but money isn’t an issue for council.
When asked if the new cameras will have the capability to record audio, police Chief Kevin Harris said he was unsure if the new cameras will come equipped with that feature.
According to Pappasergi, the installation of cameras that can record audio is a violation of the state’s Wire Tap Act, which states an individual can’t be audio recorded without their consent.
“If we’re going to have any camera that picks up audio, we would have to inform those people coming in to City Hall,” Pappasergi said. “We can’t just close down City Hall because somebody doesn’t want to be videotaped.”
Polonoli said the building’s current cameras do not have the capability to record audio, but Harris said the new cameras may come with that feature.
“We better make it clear to installers to have no capability for audio,” Harris said.
Council voted to table the approval of installing new video cameras and hopes to vote on the issue at next month’s meeting March 10.