Wyoming Area Regional Police Department holds ribbon-cutting ceremony; Cartwright delivers $963,000

WYOMING — The long process of forming a regional police department in five West Side communities came to fruition on Friday.

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright headlined an impressive group of elected officials, volunteers and first responders at the new headquarters for the Wyoming Area Regional Police Department.

And Cartwright, D-Moosic, presented a $963,000 check that will be used to purchase new police cruisers, body cameras and other essential equipment.

“Our officers deserve the best equipment to provide the highest level of police services possible to the residents of Wyoming, West Wyoming, West Pittston and Exeter Boroughs and Exeter Township,” Cartwright said. “We are so grateful and lucky to have such capable and dedicated officers who are always willing to go above and beyond the call of duty.”

Cassandra Coleman, Executive Director of America250PA, was instrumental in getting the regionalization project moving forward when she served as Northeast and Regional Director and special adviser for Gov. Tom Wolf.

But Coleman’s involvement goes back even further, to the days when her grandfather, Joseph Coyne, served on Exeter Borough Council and later as Mayor, a position she held from 2008-2015.

“From a personal level, as former Mayor of Exeter, I can recall vividly, my grandfather taking me to meetings with Mayor Bill Goldsworthy of West Pittston,” Coleman said. “They would discuss regionalization and what it would mean for the Wyoming Area, but they were never able to get it across the finish line.”

Coleman said she was pleased to see that more than 20 years later, the dreams of her grandfather and others finally came through.

“We were able to only get it so far, but those conversations that began 25 years ago were the beginning of this process,” Coleman said. “To be here today to see that idea come full circle, and to have played a small part in making it happen, is such a good feeling. And to be here to see everyone who worked so hard to make it all happen is especially gratifying.”

Another leader of the regionalization effort, Rep. Aaron Kaufer, organized the meetings of the Wyoming Area Regional Police Commission, which was chaired by Joe Pizano.

“This really could qualify as an act of God,” Kaufer said. “But the Commission took the politics out of the process — Republicans and Democrats worked together and did what was right for the residents and the men and women who wear the blue.”

Kaufer said the establishment of the regional police department and the purchase of the building, the former Pennsylvania State Police Barracks on Wyoming Avenue, is at the top of his list of his proudest accomplishments in the legislature.

“The Commission members always kept their eyes on the prize,” Kaufer said.

Kaufer said a bill he sponsored was signed into law regarding land conveyances. He said Gov. Wolf agreed to sell the building for $500,000 and also approved several state grants to cover the purchase price. He said another $1 million was procured in state grants to pay for renovations to the building.

Wyoming Area Regional Police Department Chief Mike Turner said he expects the building to be ready soon. He said he and his 17-member department can’t wait to move into the new building.

“We will have a regional police department that residents will respect,” Turner said. “We will work 12-hour shifts — 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. And we will provide quality police protection for our five communities.”

Joseph Pizano, Chairman of the WARP Commission, and a member if Exeter Borough Council, said a lot of the discussion of the need for a regional department centered on all five towns having small staffs and limited coverage.

“We all felt we had to do something about it,” Pizano said. “We worked together and at times, there was some uncertainty, but we remained committed and we decided regionalization was the way to go.”

Also speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony were: Sen. Marty Flynn; Sen. Lisa Baker; former Sen. John Yudichak; and Monsignor John J. Sempa, Pastor, Corpus Christi Parish.

Rep. Jim Haddock, D-Pittston Township, might have had the best line of the say. With snow falling for most of the ceremony, Haddock quipped, “Some said this would happen ‘when hell freezes over.’ Maybe that’s what’s happening today.”