‘Sense of security’
Diocese of Greensburg operating own police in Catholic schools
The Diocese of Greensburg police force has captured national attention and is being modeled by other dioceses in the state and beyond.
The force provides full-time coverage at each of its 12 schools with 23 police officers who have at least a decade of law enforcement experience.
Dr. Nancy Rottler, the diocese’s superintendent of Catholic schools, explained that school safety was a high priority when she assumed the post in 2022.
“One of the things I had heard from some of our parents, and looking at the way safety is so challenging in our world, there was an interest for us to have security,” she said. “It was important to make sure every school had the same amount of coverage every day. It needed to be a uniform process so that every school in the four-county area would have the same answer in terms of a safety perspective.”
The Diocese of Greensburg includes Fayette, Armstrong, Westmoreland and Indiana counties.
Greensburg was the first diocese in Pennsylvania to create a private police force, and Rottler believes it may be the first of its kind in the nation.
Ryan Maher was hired in the summer of 2023 as director of diocesan security after a long career as a state trooper. Upon retiring, he felt he had more to give to law enforcement.
“The visions aligned, and we were able to partner to determine what configuration made the most sense, what configuration met the needs of our students, staff and families,” Rottler said of hiring Maher. “His leadership skills were clear cut, and I really wanted to make sure he was on our team.”
Maher said while many Pennsylvania school districts have police, a private force allows for more jurisdiction.
School district departments only have jurisdiction on school grounds, can only make summary arrests and detain misdemeanors and felonies until local police arrive and take over, Maher said.
“With a private police department, we have jurisdiction anywhere the diocese operates. We have the same arrest authority as any other officer in the commonwealth,” he said.
Officers also staff sporting events, church festivals and Masses and have gone on student field trips. The diocese also has its own police cars.
“As members of the diocese see what services we have available to them, we’ve seen the request for services grow exponentially,” Maher said. “Each parish makes the decision as to whether they want to have us. Our officers are constantly greeted with open arms at those parishes. It puts them at ease and puts the parishioners at ease as well. It’s nice when I go to a school and it’s recess and I see a kid throw a ball to an officer. It is very heartwarming to see the relationship that has formed between the kids and the officers.”
Maher targeted a certain type of officer for the force.
“We were mostly looking for experienced officers who have put in their time with their agencies, have retired and are looking for that next step in their career,” he said. “We’re looking for officers that want to be part of the school community and want to form relationships with the students, the staff and the families so we have that trust. That helps alleviate issues before they even happen.”
The current force is a mix of full- and part-time officers, some of whom are retired state troopers. Others are retired municipal officers, and there are a few active officers who work part time for the diocese for evening and weekend events.
Rottler and Maher made a presentation about their security efforts at the National Catholic Education Association Catholic Leadership Summit in Seattle, Wash.
“We had been asked by numerous individuals from different dioceses to tell us more,” Rottler said.
Rottler said there have been discussions with all of the dioceses across the state about the force at the Diocese of Greensburg, and he worked with the Diocese of Pittsburgh to help it develop a similar department.
Wendell Hissrich, director of safety and security at the Diocese of Pittsburgh, said the diocese now has 20 full-time officers, four supervisors and six part-time officers for 36 schools, which includes seven high schools, as well as 61 parishes with 107 churches in Washington, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene and Lawrence counties. The officers have the same type of jurisdiction as their Greensburg counterparts.
Hissrich was hired in August 2023 after 25 years with the FBI and six years as public safety director in the city of Pittsburgh, taking the job about six months after Maher was hired at the Diocese of Greensburg.
“I knew the Diocese of Greensburg was in the process of starting a police force and talked with Ryan to see what track he was going down and basically replicated it here with a few exceptions,” she said.
“I could not put an officer in every school, but I recommended to the bishop that every high school was going to have a full-time officer and have an officer assigned,” Hissrich said, as the diocese has three times the number of schools.
Coverage for grade schools corresponds with the diocese’s three regions, with a supervisor and three to five officers assigned to each region.
Hissrich said computer-generated hoax calls in March 2023 at Central Catholic and Oakland Catholic went a long way toward the establishment of the diocese police force.
“It put a fear into the schools and the administrators,” Hissrich said. “The parents wanted to know what the diocese was going to do about security. That’s what prompted that safety and security position in Pittsburgh. The majority of the parents wanted some kind of protection as quickly as possible within the schools.”
The officers hired for the Diocese of Pittsburgh are similar to those in Greensburg – retired officers with a minimum of 10 years of law enforcement experience.
“We also make sure they are able to de-escalate matters,” Hissrich said. “I have found that seasoned police officers know how to do that.”
Maher also has been talking with a number of dioceses in Florida that are interested in implementing a similar plan, and he takes part in monthly discussions with directors of security from dioceses throughout the country to share and gather information.
So far feedback has been positive.
“The complaints I have received equals zero,” Rottler said. “When I have spoken at some parishes about our force in our schools, I’ve been interrupted by claps about the great work Ryan and his officers are doing. I think it’s given people a sense of security. I think it sets us apart and the students know they are learning in a safe place.”