NEW BETHLEHEM \u2013 A number of local residents, along with members of the Southern Clarion County Regional Police Department board and the Southern Clarion Police Association, turned out at Tuesday\u2019s meeting of New Bethlehem Borough Council to support the department and its officers.<\/p>\n
The attendance at the March 17 meeting followed comments from the council\u2019s February meeting during which some members raised concerns about police responding to ambulance calls, as well as to calls outside the borough to assist state police.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir role is becoming more vital,\u201d said Dan McDonald, paramedic supervisor for Clarion Hospital\u2019s EMS. He also noted that with ambulance and fire crews becoming more and more short-staffed, having the police respond to emergency situations is becoming even more important.<\/p>\n
Also speaking on behalf of local residents was Lynne Sanders, who said that she spent 35 years as an emergency medication technician (EMT), and now resides in New Bethlehem\u2019s Broadwood Towers where the population is mostly elderly.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease don\u2019t make them stop responding,\u201d she urged the borough council, adding that she has seen first-hand how fast the police can get to the towers for an emergency call, often being the first emergency responders on the scene. She noted that in a health emergency, those extra minutes can mean everything.<\/p>\n
A petition was presented to the council from Broadwood residents in favor of allowing police to continue to respond to ambulance calls.<\/p>\n
The discussion at Tuesday\u2019s meeting was set off following comments made at the council\u2019s Feb. 17 meeting, during which several members said they wanted Southern Clarion County Regional Police Department Chief Robert Malnofsky to attend their next meeting to explain some of the department\u2019s procedures, including why it was necessary to respond to EMS calls when officers were working out of the borough in Rimersburg or East Brady, as well as why police were needed at emergency medical helicopter landing zones. They also questioned the police department\u2019s response to calls outside the three boroughs that pay for the regional police department services, and how New Bethlehem pays more toward the regional endeavor than Rimersburg and East Brady.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s meeting started off with Malnofsky giving a report to the council to answer the questions asked at the February gathering. The answers were part of a nine-page response provided to the council by the police department\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n
Noting that the regional police department was formed in 2022, the chief explained that New Bethlehem Borough had budgeted $161,604 for the police department in its final year as a one-borough police force in 2021, and that the borough would be paying $139,432 this year as part of the regional department. He also noted that the borough\u2019s budget for its own police department prior to regionalization didn\u2019t include other costs such as those related to the upkeep and utilities at the police station, for which the regional department now pays.<\/p>\n
On the issue of why police respond to EMS calls, Malnofsky simply said, \u201cIt\u2019s county policy.\u201d He explained that if police officers are not involved in another call, they will respond to EMS calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not respond to all EMS calls,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we are not busy and we are in the area, our department responds.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chief said that all of his police officers are certified as first responders, and during his time as chief in New Bethlehem, police officers have resuscitated three people in need of medical help.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you place a price on a life?\u201d he asked, noting that every minute counts in a medical emergency.<\/p>\n
As for police presence at medical helicopter landing zones, the chief said those typically start as EMS calls and lead into the landing zones, with police already involved in the incident. He also said that fire police and firefighters fall under the police department\u2019s jurisdiction during emergencies.<\/p>\n
In presenting his information, Malnofsly told the council that of the 582 total calls the department responded to in New Bethlehem last year, there were 55 EMS calls. By not going to those, he said that would not necessarily impact what each municipality pays for the regional department as the police would still be on duty at those times.<\/p>\n
Answering the question about why local police assist state police out of the borough, Malnofsky asked, \u201cWhy do fire companies back one-another up?\u201d He added that the additional back-up is crucial, and noted that prior to coming to New Bethlehem, an officer at his department was killed in the line of duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy to judge us when you\u2019re not living it,\u201d Malnofsky said.<\/p>\n
Malnofsky and SCCRPD board member Sandy Mateer explained that each year, the police department reviews its call numbers as well as the populations of each municipality, with both those numbers factoring in to how much each borough contributes to the regional force.<\/p>\n
The chief said that New Bethlehem had 582 calls in 2025, followed by Rimersburg with 418 and East Brady with 316. Explaining that criminal arrests take much more time for officers as the cases move through the court system, he noted that New Bethlehem witnessed 22 criminal arrests last year, with Rimersburg at 18 and East Brady at four.<\/p>\n
On the population side, Malnofsky noted that because it has two schools and more of a business community, New Bethlehem has more people in the borough each day than the other two municipalities. The two schools alone have around 800 students and staff each school day, he said.<\/p>\n
Mateer added that based on the call volume and population numbers, for 2026, New Bethlehem will pay 45 percent of the regional department costs, with Rimersburg at 28 percent and East Brady at 27 percent.<\/p>\n
She said those percentages would be adjusted if the department is able to bring on new municipalities to the regional force, noting that each borough\u2019s overhead costs would go down with each new member.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe review it every year,\u201d she said of the rates, adding that New Bethlehem\u2019s percentage has actually gone down since the regionalization began several years ago.<\/p>\n
Mateer also said that the department is doing what it can to raise pay rates for police officers, noting that the main challenge the small department faces is keeping officers from moving on to other departments that pay more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just can\u2019t compete,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re extremely blessed to have the officer we have. We\u2019re doing the best we can with the department.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the end of the discussion, council president Scott Barrett thanked everyone for coming, and noted that the chief answered the council\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n
Other Business<\/p>\n
\u2022 In his mayor\u2019s report, the Rev. Dr. Gordon Barrows noted that the borough and other surrounding communities were not pleased that they would not receive any state or federal reimbursement for costs associated with the historic snowfall event in late January. Despite issuing a declaration of emergency, and applying to the county for aid, he said that the county as a whole did not meet the threshold in order to secure funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re disappointed,\u201d he told the council, noting that a letter has been drafted to voice the borough\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n
He said he wished information about the process had been better communicated to municipalities.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The council approved the Clarion County Emergency Operations Plan as presented by the county.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Permission was granted for the local Pre-K Counts and Head Start programs to place a temporary and removable fence on the sidewalk near their schools for student safety in the mornings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW BETHLEHEM \u2013 A number of local residents, along with members of the Southern Clarion County Regional Police…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,9628,28],"class_list":["post-142111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-new-bethlehem","tag-pennsylvania"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}