Mt. Pleasant Township police to cover shifts for McDonald department
The Mt. Pleasant Township Police Department will be temporarily covering shifts for its counterpart in McDonald.
Mt. Pleasant police Chief Matthew Tharp said McDonald’s council approved the agreement at its meeting Thursday.
“They are working to address some shortages,” Tharp said.
McDonald Law Enforcement Director Tim Motte said the staffing situation at their police department took a big hit recently.
“We’re on fumes,” Motte said. “In the last month, we lost one officer to medical, and two to other departments. There is one full-time officer and four part-time officers.”
According to Tharp, the agreement calls for Mt. Pleasant officers filling eight-hour shifts on an as-needed basis for 30 days, with the option to renew for an additional 30 days. The officers will also cover Midway, as the borough falls under McDonald police’s coverage area.
Mt. Pleasant currently employs 10 full-time officers and three part-timers.
“During those hours, we are the sole law enforcement provider,” Tharp said. “We did cover an entire shift two nights so far.”
Tharp added that either McDonald Mayor David Cooper or Motte will contact his department when a shift needs covered.
According to Motte, they are currently able to fill the majority of shifts, and have Mt. Pleasant officers scheduled for about five shifts over the next month. Motte said McDonald will provide at least eight hours notice to Mt. Pleasant if they can’t fill a shift due to illness or other unexpected shortage.
Last week a post on McDonald’s Facebook page advertised open part-time positions. Depending on the applicant’s experience, the jobs pay between $26 and $30 per hour.
“It’s harder now for small police departments to compete with the bigger ones,” Motte said.