The Allegheny Township supervisors have approved the promotion of two officers and hired full-time and part-time officers.
Promoted were Cpls. Mark Junod and Charity Hollis, who were elevated to the rank of sergeant.
Junod has served in the department since 2007 while Hollis has been a township officer since 2014.
Hollis has been the only township officer to serve as the school resource officer in conjunction with the Kiski Area School District.
The promotions come in the wake of former Chief Duane Fisher’s departure to take a job in another part of the state and the elevation of Dan Uncapher from sergeant to chief.
“Uncapher was the only sergeant under Chief Fisher. So when he was promoted to chief, that left a vacancy in that rank,” said Jason Dailey, acting township manager.
He said Hollis and Junod worked different shifts and therefore were more or less serving as shift supervisors; that’s a designation that usually falls to sergeants.
As a result, both were being paid sergeant’s wages anyway, he said.
“It’s in their collective bargaining agreement, and that agreement says that when they are performing those duties they are paid at that rank,” Dailey said. “It’s not unusual to see that in police bargaining units.”
Dailey said Uncapher’s decision to have two sergeants reverts to the way the department was structured under chiefs before Fisher.
According to Dailey, there is an opening for a corporal in the current structure. The township supervisors and Uncapher may consider filling it at a later date.
Along with the promotions, the supervisors hired Richard Pechin to replace Hollis as the school resource officer. Uncapher noted that the time was right to shift Hollis to other duties as the normal length of school resource officers is about 10 years in most police departments.
Pechin served as a full-time officer in Arnold since 2021. Prior to that, Dailey said he worked a year in McKeesport and a year in North Braddock. Before those stints, Pechin worked as a police officer for a few departments in Alaska.
Jacob Zepeda was hired as a part-time officer filling the position formerly held by Anthony Mangi, who was promoted to full-time status in November.
Dailey said Zepeda is a recent graduate of the police academy.
“This will be his first patrolman job,” Dailey said.
He said the moves now leave the department with 12 full-time officers, including Uncapher, and one part-timer.