\u201cIn recent weeks, I\u2019ve been subjected to public criticism, public attacks and an anonymous online petition which means absolutely nothing,\u201d Dayoub said, referring to a petition<\/a> that has gained more than 440 signatures seeking his removal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA change.org petition, an anonymously started petition \u2026 is not an investigation. It is not a court ruling. It is not a personal evaluation. It\u2019s not a vote of the borough\u2019s electoral board. It is not proof of wrongdoing,\u201d Dayoub said.<\/p>\n He said he has received \u201coverwhelming support\u201d from community members in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Four residents spoke at Monday\u2019s meeting to criticize the borough police and Dayoub; none spoke in support.<\/p>\n \u201cI personally have been treated with professionalism and respect by members of our police department in the past, but current events and reporting on the chief and the department\u2019s history compel me to question the council\u2019s decision-making and ability to enact accountability,\u201d said Amy Sarno, a local school board member and volunteer with Indivisible Allegheny Valley, a group opposed to the borough’s collaboration with ICE.<\/p>\n Kaitlin Mueller said a lot of residents don\u2019t feel safe in the borough.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel kind of scared,\u201d she said. \u201cChief Dayoub, I think maybe you feel a little bit scared too, which is why you got to talk a lot longer than three minutes about this.\u201d The borough allows members of the public to comment for only three minutes, and earlier this month charges were dropped<\/a> against a resident arrested at the speaker\u2019s lectern who was wrongly accused of speaking too long.<\/p>\n The petition seeking Dayoub\u2019s removal was dismissed by multiple council members, who said they could not verify that its signers live in the borough.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t pay attention to petitions \u2026 there could be maybe 10 signatures from people living in the borough and 250 of them could be people outside of the borough,\u201d Councilor Joe Kern said.<\/p>\n Council President Mike Ziencik said only \u201cNo\u201d in response to questions posed by a Public Source reporter after the meeting and then went into a private room.\u00a0<\/p>\n Councilor Dan Copeland said people seeking action against Dayoub \u201ccan wish all they want, but it\u2019s just the way that it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Dayoub was hired as a full-time officer in Springdale in 2013. Before that, a Public Source investigation found he faced a handful of civil lawsuits while he was an officer in Washington County\u2019s Smith Township. He was accused of using excessive force by multiple plaintiffs, was charged with criminal assault after an encounter with a teenage McDonald\u2019s employee, and was fired from the township after the chief accused him of falsifying a report.<\/p>\n The civil cases were settled or resolved out of court and the criminal charge was dropped after Dayoub cooperated with a grand jury investigation into another matter.<\/p>\n While Dayoub was a Springdale officer, a woman filed a Protection From Abuse petition against him, which a judge later extended into a two-year no-contact order. Other residents came forward to accuse Dayoub of intimidation and retaliation.<\/p>\n Public Source sent Dayoub a detailed list of allegations prior to publishing the investigation, and he declined to point reporters toward any specific inaccuracy or further context. He responded generally to the allegations described in the report, calling them \u201c150% incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n Monday he called Public Source\u2019s reporting \u201cabsolutely poor\u201d during a 10-minute speech to council and residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIncomplete context, omitted facts and accurate legal outcomes are never reported,\u201d he said. He left without acknowledging Public Source\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n Dayoub has drawn criticism this year for signing a cooperative 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leading to the borough police\u2019s participation in the federal immigration crackdown. That effort appeared to be active as recently as Monday morning, when, according to community members, a Verona man was detained by ICE and Springdale personnel patrolling together.<\/p>\n Daniel Alberto Cavicchioni-Rojas was on his way to his landscaping job along with some coworkers when he was taken into custody by ICE Monday morning, according to an online fundraising plea written by his brother.<\/p>\n Cavicchioni-Rojas entered the United States with Temporary Protective Status (TPS) from Venezuela, according to the GoFundMe text, which has not yet been published but was shared with Public Source. The Trump administration ended TPS for Venezuelans<\/a> last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not answer questions about Cavicchioni-Rojas\u2019 detention posed on Monday.<\/p>\n Sarno said Cavicchioni-Rojas was detained while riding in the same vehicle as Randy Cordova Flores<\/a>, who spent months in an ICE detention facility after he was detained by a joint Springdale Borough and ICE in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dayoub has declined to comment multiple times to Public Source inquiries about the agreement to assist ICE. The borough denied Public Source\u2019s request for records pertaining to payments from the federal government to the borough associated with the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n Butler County billed ICE for $194,500 in financial incentives from ICE, an April Public Source report<\/a> revealed, and a memo sent from ICE to Washington County\u2019s sheriff described \u201creimbursement opportunities\u201d and performance awards available to cooperating police agencies.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.publicsource.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/20260824-Springdale-Borough-Police-Petition-03.jpg\")
People crowded the Springdale Borough Council meeting to listen as Police Chief Derek Dayoub addresses the petition calling for his resignation on Aug. 24, at the Springdale Borough Building. In addition to criticizing the petition and the reporting on past allegations against him, Dayoub said he would not resign. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg\/Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.publicsource.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/20260824-Springdale-Borough-Police-Petition-02.jpg\")
A Springdale Borough Police officer stands by to collect the public comment sign-up sheet as lifelong Springdale resident Cathy Mager, left, guards the piece of paper with her arm as she waits for the final resident signatures to speak at the monthly council meeting on Aug. 24. Mager addressed the police department to council in front of a crowded room during the public comment period. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg\/Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.publicsource.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/20260824-Springdale-Borough-Police-Petition-05.jpg\")
Springdale Borough resident William \u201cDanny\u201d Rosenmund reacts during a council meeting, Aug. 24. Rosenmund was arrested from the public speaker\u2019s podium at an April council meeting while arguing for transparency around the municipality\u2019s dealings with ICE. Related charges against him were later dropped. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg\/Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source)<\/p>\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.publicsource.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/20260824-Springdale-Borough-Police-Petition-06.jpg\")
From left, Craig Alexander, Springdale Borough solicitor, Mike Ziencik, center, borough council president, and Patrick Bono, interim borough manager, listen during the monthly borough council meeting on Aug. 24. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg\/Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source)<\/p>\n