Three new Jeannette police officers were hired this week, which officials said should ease overtime costs in the department.
Police Chief Derek Manley said he thinks a measure passed by city council earlier this year to increase pay for new hires helped with getting the trio of officers on board.
“It’s going to take the workload off the officers” who have been carrying the extra shifts while the department had open positions, he said.
Jeannette police have had struggles since at least 2024 filling open positions on the force. After an arbitration decision last year that reduced wages for new officers, Manley asked council to consider upping the starting salary.
That led to an agreement inked in April between the city and the Jeannette Police Officers’ Benefit Association, that called for new officers hired in 2026 to have a base salary of $68,979. They will get 2% raises for 2027 and 2028 instead of 3%.
The arbitration decision called for new officers in 2025 to start at $52,000 with $65,000 being the maximum amount any new hire could make, based on experience.
Mayor Michelle Langdon said she hopes the move will decrease overtime costs in department. Overtime costs are $28,000 over budget for 2026, she said.
“Through the potential hiring of officers tonight, we will be able to set the department straight to living within their budget by the end of the year,” she said prior to Thursday’s vote.
The three officers are: Kenneth Burke, Ezra Robinson and Dominic Watkins. Manley said they’ve all accepted offers of employment.
Council approved another round of civil service testing for the department. The three hires exhausted the current list of candidates.
Civil service tests can put those who successfully pass a physical and written exam on a list of potential candidates for hire. That list can remain valid for a certain period of time, and more hires can be made from it as jobs open up.
Burke previously resigned from the Greensburg force after pleading guilty to a third-degree misdemeanor disorderly conduct and a summary harassment charge in connection with a 2022 incident involving a woman. He was sentenced to one year of probation and was released from that in January 2024, according to court records.
Jeannette solicitor Tim Witt said Burke has worked at other municipal departments since that time and was hired through the civil service process, which he said “ensures equal and fair treatment of all applicants.”
State law indicates criminal convictions of a second-degree misdemeanor or higher would disqualify an applicant for a municipal police officer job.