No luck yet in talks with neighbors for Girardville police coverage
GIRARDVILLE – This borough is still exploring its options for local police coverage, the mayor said in an update at Wednesday’s council meeting.
Mayor Michael Zangari said he and the borough’s police committee met with the Frackville Borough Police Department to explore coverage.
The meeting was to “discuss some of what we thought would be needed to provide adequate coverage if we were going to pay for it.
“We received a quite high number back from them, in the area of $200,000 a year to provide what I believe to be very simple coverage,” Zangari said.
He said he did not believe the borough could afford that number.
“We’re going to continue to sit down with Ashland and Butler Township and keep an open mind and see where things go,” Zangari said.
If Girardville were to outsource policing to Frackville Borough, they would be the second municipality to do so.
Frackville currently provides police coverage to Gilberton under an agreement dating back to 2017. That agreement was signed at a much reduced cost of $100 per day or $36,500 per year.
In the interim, coverage will still be provided by the State Police at Frackville.
The borough voted to disband the Girardville Police Department in May following a community survey.
The police force had been marred with controversy over the past few years.
It has had five different leaders since 2020, one of whom — ex-Officer-in-Charge Fabrizio Bivona — filed a federal lawsuit against the borough following his firing last year.
Bivona’s successor, Jeremy Talanca, is facing a host of felony theft charges related to a car dealership he owned in Berwick.
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