Penn Hills hires 3 new police officers
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Three police officers were sworn in by Penn Hills Mayor Sara Kuhn and two tenured officers were recognized for saving a life at the Aug. 19 council meeting.
The hires bring the municipality’s police force up to 52 officers. Police Chief Howard Burton expects to hire one more to bring the force to full complement by the first quarter of 2020. However, there may be additional retirements next year, he said.
The hires include James Johe, Benjamin Druskin and Ryan Terek. They are all 29 years old.
The department hired four additional police officers earlier in the year as others retired.
Also at the meeting, Sergeant David Wilkinson and Officer Preston Peterson were recognized for their efforts to treat a woman whose leg was rolled over by a train on July 17.
Burton said the officers applied a tourniquet to the woman’s leg and pressure to control the bleeding as EMS officials arrived on the scene – two actions that saved the woman’s leg and life.
The 18-year-old woman, whom officials declined to identify, was playing in a U.S. Steel train yard with her boyfriend when one car suddenly moved and rolled over her leg.
The woman is going through rehabilitation after reconstructive surgery, Burton said.
At the time of the incident, Meghan Cox, a spokeswoman for U.S. Steel referred to the woman as a “trespasser” but neither the company nor the Penn Hills police has filed charges against her.