LACEYVILLE -- The same day the former Laceyville police chief was sentenced for driving drunk on the job, Laceyville borough leaders said they are working to rebuild their police department.
The borough's former chief, Scott Perry, was cited for driving drunk on the job back in December. He pleaded guilty and was fired. A judge ruled Monday Perry does not have to serve any time in jail.
"You know, I made a mistake. There's no doubt about it," said Perry outside the Bradford County Courthouse.
It has been months since Laceyville had its own police force.
A few months before Perry's problems, a part-time borough police officer was suspended after pictures surfaced of him apparently selling a semi-automatic rifle while on duty. That officer has since left the department.
State police out of Tunkhannock have been covering the area. That barracks is about 20 minutes away from Laceyville.
In that time, the local bank was robbed in broad daylight.
"We're a good town. Everybody here is a tight community, you know? And we got a lot of great people here and I hate to see some of the things starting to happen because of not having the police presence," said Shey Sterling, a Laceyville business owner who grew up in the borough.
Laceyville's mayor said things are about to improve. The borough will hire a part-time police officer to cover weekend nights.
"Right now, we are interviewing candidates, but we are not going to make the mistake we made in the past. We're going to do a thorough background check," said Mayor Phil Brewer.
The mayor of Laceyville said he is hopeful if everything goes according to plan, there could be a part-time officer in Laceyville by next week.
"I wish there was someone here 24/7. That'd be nice, like there was before," said Tehya Turner of Laceyville.
"It's important that we get an officer that the borough can trust, and that's priority," said Mayor Brewer.
