Fallen police officers’ monument set to be moved to new building site

Council decides on emotional issue

Penn Hills council has decided to move its monument honoring the municipality’s fallen police officers to the site of a new municipal building that will be located on Duff Road.

Council’s decision on Feb. 5 came after an emotional discussion of whether the monument would be moved to the new $12.3 million municipal building — on the site of the former Penn Hebron Elementary School — or would be situated at the site of the current municipal building on Frankstown Road after it is torn down.

Fallen police officers’ family members were among those to make their views known.

The new municipal building, which will house police and EMS and include a firefighter training area, is scheduled to be completed this summer.

Erected in 1973, the monument is dedicated to the memories of Penn Hills police Sgt. William Schrott and Officer Bartley Connolly, who were killed in the line of duty on March 25, 1972.

After Officer Michael Crawshaw was killed while on duty on Dec. 6, 2009, the memorial was expanded in 2010 and includes an engraved granite marker in his honor.

Before council made its decision, Mayor Sara Kuhn outlined a plan that would keep the monument at its present location as part of a memorial town center with a pavilion and walking path.

“This monument is to remind us that some of those who protect and serve are killed needlessly,” the mayor said. “The location was not an oversight. When it was determined that the frontage of the new building had to be reduced, we realized that the site is no longer acceptable for the monument’s relocation.”

Because of the sloping ter-