Pair of Sewickley police officers promoted to sergeant
Share this post:
Sewickley Police officers David Yurkovac and William Hanlon have new leadership roles.
The two full-time patrolmen were promoted to sergeants at a council meeting on Tuesday, Sept.13.
Chief Dave Mazza said they were the two top finishers out of four candidates of a civil service exam.
Mayor George Shannon administered the oath of office after highlighting the officers’ efforts.
He said they both studied hard for several months and were interviewed by three police chiefs from other communities. The mayor called the promotions well-deserved.
Yurkovac, of Moon Township, joined Sewickley as a part-time officer in January 2011 and was promoted to full time in March 2014.
The Robert Morris University grad attended the police academy at Community College of Beaver County.
Mazza described him as “very community oriented” and an active member of Allegheny County Communities & Police Together.
“(Yurkovac) is very active within the community and schools teaching crime prevention,” Mazza said. “(He) works with the youths of the community teaching drug abuse, bullying, internet safety, etc.”
Hanlon is a LaRoche College graduate who attended the Allegheny County Police Training Academy.
The Ohio Township resident was hired by Sewickley part time in February 2001 and promoted to full time January 2008.
He is a member of the West Hills DUI Task Force and a certified drug recognition expert (DRE).
“DREs are highly trained to recognize when an individual has been driving under the influence of drugs,” Mazza said. “Through specialized testing they identify which drug categories are causing the impairment. There are only about 8,000 in the U.S.”
Sewickley’s civil service guidelines list captain as the next promotion after sergeant and before police chief.
Yurkovac and Hanlon join Sgt. Robert McNatt as the three supervisors under Mazza, who is excited to have new leaders in the fold.
“It’s a big step for the department to bring some structure back to our agency,” the chief said about the promotions. “Everyone who was eligible would have done a great job.
“Hanlon and Yurkovac were selected for the job. I have all the confidence in them. It’s going to be a great help to me being able to delegate some things I’m currently doing to two new supervisors.
“It’s going to put a supervisor on every shift. It’s going to allow all three sergeants to work all three shifts.”
At least half the department was at the council meeting showing support to the newly promoted men.
The police department has 26 officers, including 10 that are full time.