Dunmore will hold a ceremony Monday for its newest ranking police officers.
The Dunmore Police Department expanded its leadership last year by promoting longtime Patrolmen Stephon Burgette, Michael Igoe and Thomas Richardson to sergeants, Mayor Max Conway said. While the three men became sergeants during the borough’s Aug. 12 council meeting, the town never actually had a ceremony for the three officers, he said. Borough officials decided the upcoming council meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Dunmore Community Center would be a good venue, Conway said.
“We finally sat down, and we said, ‘These guys deserve a formal ceremony,’” Conway said. “These three are really great officers, and they’re really doing a great job making the borough safer.”
Dunmore has 21 full-time officers, including a chief, two captains and three sergeants, Conway said. During Monday’s meeting, council will also consider hiring its 22nd full-time officer to proactively offset an upcoming retirement at the end of the year, Conway said.
“Why don’t we bring somebody on now, knowing that we have a guaranteed retirement in December?” Conway said. “Our newest officer can kind of learn the lay of the land, learn how the department works, so when the time comes that this officer retires, officially, we have an officer already on staff that’s ready to go and is going to keep the borough safe.”
While some towns have voted in recent years to add ranks to their police departments, the Dunmore Police Department had sergeants in its collective bargaining agreement, though no one had actually been promoted to the position, Conway said. The mayor couldn’t recall the last time Dunmore had police sergeants.
The addition of three sergeants means the department is able to have leadership on every shift, Conway said.
“Now there’s a full leadership chain on each shift, which I think is important for the borough,” he said. “It’s important for our residents, and it’s always great when you have somebody in a leadership role on each shift.”
Conway estimated that it’s been close to a decade since the department offered any sort of promotion.
“They know the borough, they know the people, give them an opportunity to better the department and also make Dunmore a safer place,” he said of the promotions. “And it does give incentive to the officers to work harder and know that there is opportunity to grow within the department because you don’t want to just keep a department that’s stagnant.”
With just over a decade in the Dunmore Police Department, Sgt. Stephon Burgette said it was a smooth transition to sergeant last year.
The department has implemented various new standard operating procedures, or SOPs, including for body camera systems, report writing systems and evidence procedures, he said. As a sergeant, he was able to take classes and train officers on the SOPs, said Burgette, who is also a member of the Lackawanna County Drug Task Force and Lackawanna County SWAT Team.
For example, his fellow sergeant, Thomas Richardson, was one of the officers to teach the SOPs pertaining to their body cameras, but when Richardson isn’t on duty, Burgette is able to address questions and concerns.
“I’m very proactive, and I try to lead by example,” he said. “I’m not the type of sergeant that’s just going to send everybody on calls. I’m going to show people that I’m willing to do the work, no matter what my rank and title is.”