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Peters Township police preparing to hire social worker

By Jon Andreassi 2 min read

Peters Township police are planning to add a social worker to its ranks this year – pending a couple of actions from council members.

The position itself is accounted for in this year’s budget, but council tabled two motions at its meeting Monday that would amend the Peters Township employee handbook and the police department’s policies to include the job description and duties.

Police Chief Joseph Glover explained this was due to some technical issues with the language in those policies.

“There are a couple hiccups that we need to work out. That’s why they backed off last night,” Glover said, adding that the resolutions will likely be passed at council’s Feb. 10 meeting.

According to Township Manager Paul Lauer, the job will pay $66,000 per year. Peters will also receive assistance from Washington County in the amount of $42,500 per year over the next five years.

“It doesn’t cover the total cost of it, but mitigates the cost pretty effectively,” Glover said.

Peters will be the first police department in the county to hire a social worker.

Glover explained the social worker will assist officers in dealing with issues related to mental health and social welfare.

The township looked to some communities in Allegheny County that have brought a social worker into their police departments, including Mt. Lebanon, O’Hara Township and Hampton Township.

“Everybody just raves about having their social worker, the things that they do for the officers … We’re not equipped to help people in a lot of these situations. Like a hoarder, we don’t have the contacts as police officers. We don’t have the training and things like that to be able to help these folks,” Glover said.

According to Glover, there is already a space planned for the social worker at the station on East McMurray Road. He hopes that if the program is successful, other police departments will follow their lead.

“We’re looking forward to it. We want to make sure we get the right person in here for the township and the residents,” Glover said. “You might see some real changes for some of these folks.”

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