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Mahanoy Area creates school district police force

Newswatch 16's Claire Alfree shares how the police presence is positively impacting students and staff.

MAHANOY CITY, Pa. — A typical day for Officers Craig Stine and Frank Gallo includes greeting students as they patrol the halls.

The Mahanoy Area School District now has its own police department and says it will make their schools safer.

"I see the students treading lightly around us. Before, they would engage in a verbal altercation, but now they're much more careful about how they do things because there are two officers here," Stine said.

Previously, the Mahanoy Area School District would rely on borough police officers to secure campus when they weren't busy downtown. But with staff shortages shrinking the Mahanoy City Police Department by 50 percent, the school board made it a priority to hire their own officers.

"We noticed at the end of the school year there were a lot of incidents that required police presence here, and we weren't getting that because Frank was pulled out of town to be covered. So it was very stressful for administration," said Mahanoy Area Superintendent Joie Green.

From greeting high school students in the morning to watching elementary students get on the bus home, the school police officers work across the entire district to oversee all aspects of the school day.

"We keep the kids happy and hopefully keep them on the right path because we're a low-income area and see a lot of problems," Gallo said. "These kids don't have a lot, so to give them the help that they need and push them in the right direction, it feels nice."

Both school officers are now instituting a mentor program for students to teach them about careers in law enforcement and show that they are there as a resource for support.

"What we're trying to establish is that you can trust law enforcement and know that they can trust us," Stine added. "I think we've already showed them that in a very short time here."

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