Ross commissioners detail problems in police dept.

Ross Township Commission President Dan DeMarco on Monday addressed conflicts within the police department and what a consultant found when hired to evaluate the department.

The township has so far refused to release the report from Ronald Smeal, a police management consultant, despite losing an open records appeal filed by a resident. The township appealed the decision to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

Mr. DeMarco acknowledged that there has been “ongoing conflict between the officers and the leadership of the police department” for several years. The conflicts include social media postings, filing of grievances over issues that could be resolved in other ways, communication issues among the rank and file, and not following the chain of command.

Before hiring Mr. Smeal,

Commissioner Bill McKellar, chair of the public safety committee and a retired law enforcement officer, met with Chief Joseph Ley and the Ross Township Police Association more than 20 times in 18 months to help resolve conflicts.

Mr. Smeal was hired in November 2020. He spent seven days observing the department’s operations and held meetings with officers, supervisors, members of the

public safety committee and the township manager.

“Mr. Smeal was asked to report back to the commissioners what he found and provide recommendations for solutions,” Mr. DeMarco said. “This was not an internal review of department policies, a one-time inquiry or a routine performance audit into police department operations. This was an investigation into the causes and potential solutions to significant problems within the department.”

And, as such, does not need to be released under the state’s open records law, he added.

Mr. DeMarco said the consultant found that “communication has become a significant issue within the police department. There is very little positive verbal communication or interaction between and among management, supervision and rank and file officers. Communication via the computer email system is reported to be the dominant manner of communication. Face-to-face, eye-to-eye communication is reported to be limited to only when it is unavoidable.”

Other issues found by Mr. Smeal included the need to update the department’s training and education requirements and the procedures for promotions and job descriptions. He also found a “definite split” between the sergeants, who are the first-line supervisors, and the lieutenants and chief. “This is a very problematic situation that is in need of immediate and continued attention,” Mr. DeMarco said.

In other business, representatives of Suburban Whitetail Management told commissioners that their hunters culled 40 deer last year in the township. The meat from the first deer and every third deer harvested after that was sent to a food bank.