Robert C. Berchtold , Chief of Police | Eric S. Hermick, Assistant Chief of Police
The Chippewa Township Police Department is committed to improving service and protection capabilities. We are striving to reduce criminal activity through improved prevention and deterrent techniques. We are dedicating more hours toward proactive policing toward relevant to school and infrastructure security throughout the Township. We have fostered strong working relationships with our school administration and staff. We continually train with them to prevent school violence and to ensure readiness for serious incidents.
Chippewa Township is currently working with software agencies in hopes of acquiring cameras with License Plate Readers mounted in strategic locations. These camera systems are being used in other communities and cities, and have proven extremely beneficial. They have been used to identify suspects in child luring cases, murder suspects, hit and run crash offenders, burglary and theft suspects, etc.
Newly implemented mandates ensured officers familiarity and utilization of available resources. This resulted in more criminal cases being solved and prosecuted while reducing overall costs to the township.
We are hosting trainings at our facility to allow for more education while reducing cost of training. Also, we have partnered with Pennsylvania Virtual Training Network which gives our officers 24/7 access to no cost online training through the Chiefs of Police.
The police reporting system was upgraded to capture more data and better documentation. With more data and the improved report quality, a strong analysis of crime trends and/or causation of crashes can be done. This analysis helps identify possible crime trends and may help anticipate criminal activity, therefore preventing it through police presence and public awareness. The data is also analyzed to determine primary causation violations or contributing factors involved in traffic crashes. This information is used to determine areas that need traffic enforcement action and/or motorist education.
The police department is going live with the mobile/on-board computer system on March 7 of this year. This will provide officers with the ability to electronically file traffic citations, non-traffic citations and charges. Ultimately, this will improve accuracy while minimized time spent on certain incidents and traffic stops.
For 2019, the Chippewa Township Police Department applied for and has been awarded with additional funding for two programs: Pennsylvania Aggressive Driver Enforcement and Education Program (PADEEP) and the Buckle Up Pennsylvania (BUPA).
PADEEP funding has been allocated to cover the costs to deploy additional officers to conduct strong enforcement efforts targeting aggressive drivers with a focus on problematic roadways. This funding will augment our current enforcement efforts to reduce injury related vehicle crashes and/or motor vehicle crash fatalities. This is supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the National Institute for Highway Safety.
BUPA funding will be used to conduct seat belt and child restraint enforcement with a zero-tolerance mindset. This program involves a pre-enforcement observation/survey of motorists in a specific area to determine the percentage of seat belt usage. Upon completion of the enforcement period, a post observation/survey of the same location is done. Surveys will be compared to determine the effectiveness of the enforcement period. The goal is to increase the percentage of usage through enforcement and awareness.
2018 Stats:
- 8,572 Calls Received
- 4,771 Incidents
- 238 Criminial Arrests (Burglary, Theft, Drug Offenses, Assaults, Criminal Mischief)
- 29 DUI Arrests (Driving Under Influence of Alcohol and/or Drugs)
- 628 Traffic Citations
- 754 Written Warnings
- 309 Traffic Crash Investigations
- 44 Traffic Crash Injuries
