COURTDALE, Pa. — A police chief in Luzerne County is suspended without pay over a post he made on social media that seemed to encourage violence.
Courtdale Police Chief Chris Matello has already served one week of the two-week unpaid suspension. His social media post was allegedly geared toward the violence we've been seeing across the country.
Some people in Luzerne County believe the chief is sending the wrong message.
"Whether it's local, or national, or global, you cannot solve violence and put away violence by doing more violent things," said Darlene Beagle of Swoyersville.
Matello's now-deleted post read:
"Just start shooting … this will end quickly! This is making me sick!"
Sam Sanguedolce, Courtdale borough's solicitor, said that once the council found out about the post, they met with the chief. Matello admitted he sent out the post as just a gut reaction to everything that's going on.
The head of the Wilkes-Barre NAACP says there no excuse for his actions.
"What example is this setting for the officers who work under him? And in addition, if he messed up like that and post stuff like that, what is he doing behind those prison walls at the state correctional facility?" asked Ronald Felton, president of the local chapter of NAACP.
Matello is also a state corrections officer at SCI Dallas. Kyle Fagan, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, tells Newswatch 16 they have launched an investigation into the allegations.
This isn't the first time Matello's career in law enforcement has been in jeopardy. Newswatch 16 covered a story involving Matello 22 years ago. He was working as an officer for the Larksville Police Department and was charged with making a false report to a 911 dispatcher that a medical helicopter had crashed into the borough building. He later said he was joking and was found not guilty.
Felton says this is one too many times, and he needs to be fired.
"This is the problem that's being protested all over the country where you have these police officers that may have had disciplinary actions taken against them that it doesn't follow them from one police station to another. So that has to stop."
Sources tell Newswatch that Matello will undergo sensitivity training. If it's completed in a timely manner, he will then be able to return to work. We reached out to the police chief and the mayor of Courtdale and haven't heard back.