Judge demands sheriff resume warrant service in Westmoreland Co.
Serving arrest warrants is one of the key functions of the department.
By RICH CHOLODOFSKY
TribLive
Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas President judge demanded Sheriff James Albert resume work that seeks out and serves warrants to fugitives wanted by the law.
“The service of arrest warrants is one of the primary public safety functions performed by the sheriff’s office. It is not an ancillary responsibility that may be suspended indefinitely or treated as a matter of administrative convenience,” Feliciani wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to Albert.
That correspondence came in response to Albert’s comment published in the Tribune-Review in which the sheriff announced he had temporarily halted his office’s fugitive warrant operations for an undisclosed time to reorganize the personnel on the team.
Albert on Wednesday said deputies in his office continue to serve some warrants but that the full-scale effort to seek out fugitives continues to be on hold.
“The warrant team is on hold but all other services are active,” Albert said. “We’re hoping to resume that next week.”
Albert last week suspended with pay the team’s leader, Sgt. Irvin Shipley, pending an ongoing investigation. Neither Albert nor county officials offered specifics about the substance of that investigation. Shipley remains off the job for now. His wife, Chief Deputy Jennifer Shipley, serves as Albert’s second-in-command of the sheriff’s office and has been at work this week.
The remaining members of the 10-member warrant team have been performing other duties this week. The sheriff’s office, in addition to serving warrants, is responsible for transporting jail inmates to court hearings and for courtroom security at the courthouse.
Warrant service is a key job duty that must be uninterrupted and media accounts of the sheriff’s decision to temporarily halt that effort could impact public safety, Feliciani wrote to the sheriff. The team’s temporary shelving could have additional impacts on the community, the judge said.
“It may also diminish public confidence in the sheriff’s office and the court system. The timely execution of warrants is therefore not merely an internal operational concern it is a matter of public safety and institutional credibility,” according to Feliciani’s letter.
The judge has so far no issued a formal court order requiring Albert to restore the warrant service.
“The courts depend upon the service of your office for effective execution of warrants. The public, the courts and those affected by the underlying proceedings are entitled to expect that responsibility to be carried out without unnecessary interruption. Please reinstate service immediately,” Feliciani wrote.
