Marple Police: Awards Presentation, April's Incident Report and More

BROOMALL–It was a police-filled meeting on Monday evening at 's Board of Commissioners work session meeting May 2–from an awards presentation, honoring the good works of a handful of officers and citizens, to Chief Tom Murray's monthly incident report, a brief update on the police contract with the township and a new hire.

Township Recognizes Police, Citizens Achievements

With nearly half the room clad in blue, a handful of officers were recognized for their service in 2010 at Monday's meeting.

Det. Barry Williams was honored twice for two specific achievements last year. The first was a letter of commendation for his quick work in the arrest of one of the individuals involved in the March 30, 2010, armed robbery of the A-Plus on West Chester Pike and Springfield Road. Williams' second letter of commendation that night was for his efficient investigation on November 18, 2010, of an armed robbery incident on Media Line Road, which ultimately resulted in the arrest of three individuals for what turned out to be known as the "252 burglaries"–a series of burglaries that occurred throughout several townships along Route 252.

Officers Peter Baylor, Ray Stiles, Eric Miller and information assistant Robbie Tarozzi also received a letter of commendation for an incident that occured on June 24, 2010, which was known to be a highly destructive storm that hit Marple Township. Over 100 calls for service were made that day and the aftermath of the storm caused downed wires and trees throughout the town but the foursome acted swiftly to clear roads and minor injuries reported that day.

Officers Michael Rush, Michael Johnson and Greg de Simone were all commended for their assistance in saving a life on September 29, 2010. As a result of an apparent drug overdose and deemed to be nearly dead, the officers rescued and revived the subject to full recovery.

A resolution was also made by Murray and the Board of Commissioners to award Officer Andrew Ronsvalle with the Excellent Duty Citation Bar for an incident that occurred on February 16, 2010. Ronsvalle investigated a prescription fraud involving the drug Oxycontin, which resulted in the arrest of a suspect as well as additional information on the illegal sellng of the drug in the township.

Among the nine honored, Murray also recognized five residents who took part in the last –a 10-week program where the citizens got an inside look on the "inner-workings" of the police department (the next one is in September)–as well as Lou Pace of for his generosity sponsoring the Citizen's Police Academy, John Fritsch of for his towing service during vehicle accidents, and members of the Department of Public Works for their diligent service during last year's torrential storms.

Vandalism Down, Thefts Continue in April

Murray relayed the monthly incident report for the month of April at Monday's meeting. Thirty-one thefts were reported last month.

"For the month of April, our thefts continue to be the biggest problem we have," said Murray.

But on a positive note, vandalism went down last month, which is "encouraging," said Murray, "especially since the weather is changing and the kids are out more."

Another category that was up considerably was ordinance violations, according to Murray. There were 13 ordinance violations that were cited in April; in March there were eight.

"The thrust of those violations were ordinance violations which related to solicitors," said Murray. "We have as you know last year. We have cracked down–if you don't have a permit, if you haven't gone through the process, you're getting a citation."

New Officer Adds to Force, Police Contract Nearly Finalized

Dan Lazzari will be sworn in at the next Board of Commissioner meeting on May 9 as an official Marple police officer.

"He [Dan Lazzari] has passed everything that we require–physical, psychological, polygraph–all the things that we require for his appointment as a police officer here in Marple Township have been met," said Murray.

In addition, as required by the police manual for new hires, Lazzari will be on a probationary period his first year serving.

Township Manager Anthony Hamaday also noted on Monday night that the police contract has nearly been finalized with only a few minor changes needed in the language/wording of the contract such as gender-associated language.

"The biggest wording changes were really the fact that we do now have a female police officer," said Hamaday.

Commissioner Jiim Balk (D-3rd District) settled a rumor going around town that 11-12 police officers earned over a $100,000 in 2010.

"That factor had to take into consideration of the contract that was just mentioned which covered a year when the police did not have a contract at all," said Balk. "And so the new contract is retroactive back to when the last contract expired, so they get paid the increase they would've gotten if the settlement was made sooner plus the overtime that would've been paid to them if the contract was settled sooner. So it wasn't that the salaries were at $100,000."

In the original calculations, the year and a half back interest was taken into consideration that was given to the prior year's contract, which was included in 2010's W-2 forms, added Board of Commissioners President Michael Molinaro (R-6th District).

The new four-year contract will be for 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 with an annual 3.5 percent salary increase for those four years. According to Hamaday, the officers will be on a Keystong Point of Service plan where they will pay a little higher in co-pays and expenses with an option of going out of network.