Eastern Regional Mon Valley Police Department swears in new chief, 6 officers
The Eastern Regional Mon Valley Police Department has been up and running for just over a month, operating out of the old North Braddock Police station.
It’s a merger of the North Braddock, Rankin, and East Pittsburgh departments.
Thursday night, the new department officially swore in its chief and six other officers.
“This is a historical day for the Mon Valley with the three boroughs joining together: North Braddock, East Pittsburgh, and of course, Rankin,” said North Braddock Mayor Cletus Lee.
The Eastern Regional Mon Valley Police Department officially launched on April 1 under the leadership of Chief Derrick Turner.
“It’s been a challenge, it’s been fun, it’s been thrilling, and there’s so much more to come,” Turner said.
Turner’s force currently has seven full-time officers, including himself.
Four came from the previous departments involved in the merger. He hopes to hire five more.
“It’s not every day that you get to build a police department from scratch and to be able to really mold the culture, mold the atmosphere and all of those things, was the opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Turner said.
For Turner, getting out into the community and building relationships with residents is a top priority.
“I feel a huge responsibility to do right by the communities because they have entrusted us with this process, they have entrusted us to start this new transformation, if you still, of public safety from scratch. We have no choice but to get it right the first time,” Turner said.
Turner also hopes to work toward state and federal accreditations for his new department.
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