Peters promotes 2 officers, hires 2

Peters Township police Chief Doug Grimes introduced two new police officers and held a promotion ceremony for two members of the police department at a recent Peters Township Council meeting.

Gary Orosz, who was promoted to sergeant back in December 2020, was recognized at the June 28 meeting. He joined the department in 1999 after beginning his career in the borough of West Homestead in 1994. He was promoted to corporal in 2018.

In Peters, Sgt. Orosz has served as detective, a field training officer and as lead coordinator for the township’s citizens police academy.

Additionally, Spencer Scott was promoted to the rank of corporal. He is a member of the South Hills Area Council of Governments’ SWAT team, and in Peters is a firearms instructor, a field training instructor and coordinator for traffic enforcement in the township.

Chief Grimes also introduced the two new officers — Austin Kline and Nicole Merrick.

Officer Kline, a Pittsburgh native, is a graduate of Waynesburg University. He previously worked for the Arlington County Police Department’s Civil Disturbance Unit in Arlington County, Virginia.

He was one of the officers who responded to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. He was awarded a ribbon of valor.

Officer Merrick, who is from Collier, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Point Park University and has worked as a criminal intelligence analyst with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. She most recently worked for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police in its crime analysis unit.

Officer Merrick is a graduate of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Police Academy.