Monessen chief wants 3 more officers
The request comes after a 16-year-old was shot in the head this week.
Monessen Police Chief Dave Yuhasz asked council at Thursday’s meeting to consider hiring three more full-time officers for his department.
The department is understaffed to handle the current level of calls and crime, according to Yuhasz. From Jan. 31 to Oct. 31, they responded to 6,500 calls, with 402 of them being serious, high-risk incidents.
He said the shooting of a 16-year-old in the city on Tuesday prompted him to bring the request before council.
“We currently only have 10 deployable full-time officers with us 24/7 with inconsistent availability, and that does not include me,” Yuhasz told council. “Three officers is the minimum necessity to stabilize staffing. We currently have one chief, one lieutenant, one sergeant. If we have a major incident, we have always been relying on other municipalities.”
Monessen’s violent crime rate per 1,000 people is more than 800, according to Yuhasz, who added that Charleroi is around 200, Clairton is around 300, Jeanette is under 200 and the closest is Aliquippa at 600.
Mayor Ron Mozer said people have been moving out of the city, and they have been losing officers over the last year. They usually have 13 on staff, the recommendation is 14 or more.
The department has some part-time officers who supplement efforts to a point, according to Yuhasz, and they can assist on violent, pressing calls.
However, Yuhasz said the department has no in-house detectives or special investigative units. He added that there is trouble retaining officers and there are several other issues with the department.
Councilman John Nestor said he would like to see more officers in the city, and there are gaps that need to be filled.
“People need to feel safe in their neighborhood, and if three officers will help us feel safer in our neighborhood, then it’s money well spent,” Mozer said. “That is what people pay us to do.”
Councilman Tony Orzechowski agreed that more officers are needed, but he said by October, the department exceeded this year’s budget by $125,000. He’s concerned about how much would have to be spent on additional officers.
“A lot of departments have more, and they do less than we do,” Yuhasz said. “The police department is a big part of the budget, but when it comes to crime, when it comes to safety and when it comes to enforcement, it’s hard to do enforcement. It gets exhausting. We need more people to help with this job. Every chief has this.
“The hiring of three additional full-time officers will improve the likelihood of having three officers on duty consistently instead of occasionally. I have three successful, very impressive candidates on our civil service board currently. I would like the city to offer employment to all three. I need officers point blank.”
Yuhasz also spoke to council about applying for a Law Enforcement Mental Health Wellness grant.
Michael Yonas, community partnerships vice president for the Pittsburgh Foundation, told our news partners at WTAE on Tuesday that when shootings happen, especially with juveniles, there’s a need to point those communities toward resources to help.
Yuhasz said the grant is not only for law enforcement, but it will be geared toward first responders as well. He heard about the grant from a New Kensington officer who is spearheading the program, and Yuhasz offered to be a sponsor.
The grant process won’t begin until early next year, so Yuhasz was seeking council’s support to apply. There will be no cost to the city, and it will be available to any first responder in the area.
“There is no more pushing this back down inside you, because that ends up blowing up,” Yuhasz said. “Problems at home, problems with your personal life, it’s bad all around.”
Mozer asked Yuhasz to contact the officer to see what the city needs to do to be a sponsor. He added that council will possibly have it on the agenda for the next meeting, calling it a great opportunity and expressing his support.
Budget process
Mozer said work on the 2026 budget was delayed because the city had been operating without a clerk.
Now that they have one after voting in a special meeting earlier this month, the budget process is underway, but there are still challenges with a Dec. 31 deadline looming.
“The budget is a critical part of how the city operates; it determines where we get money for the police,” Mozer said. “Maybe if we knew what the budget consisted of, maybe we would be in a better position to help. If we have a budget that we are all committed to, and we all understand what it is, then I think we can make it work.”
Orzechowski, who serves as council’s chief financial officer, said he just received budget numbers on Sunday, briefly looked at them and found them to be wrong. He added that next year, he wants departments to submit spending data every month.
“Every department should look and see what is allocated, and work within the framework of that,” Orzechowski said. “We are going to have to do it next year, and I know it’s going to be painful, a budget is a budget and you have a framework, and you also need to know what your budget allocations are ongoing on a continual basis.”
Mozer said throughout his administration that everyone has treated the budget as just a piece of paper, and stated that last year’s estimates were off by 25%. He argued that he along with the council should at least see the numbers Orzechowski is using to help him organize a budget.
Orzechowski stated that he has been saying for months that no one has looked into a Tax Anticipation Note, also known as a bridge loan, to help with the overspending and the miscalculated budget from this past year.
Mozer said they have not had a good budget for a long time, and he wants to work together with council to help Orzechowski on the budget.
“The budget was not good for this year, and I just don’t agree with that budget at all,” Mozer said. “It underestimated the income, it underestimated the expenses. We need to come up with a budget we can work with, that we can understand and that we agree on.”
