The Hermitage Police Department is headed by the Chief of Police, assisted by the Deputy Chief of Police, and consists of twenty-eight full-time officers and three full-time clerical personnel. The Department is located at 800 North Hermitage Road in the ground level of the Hermitage Municipal Building. It provides full police services twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year. Services include uniformed patrol, traffic enforcement, juvenile and criminal investigation, a full-time D.A.R.E. program, crime prevention programs, and the up keeping of criminal history records. The department houses a crime/evidence laboratory and a fully-equipped crime scene processing van, and uses laptop computers in patrol vehicles for records access and report writing. Officers are highly trained, with certified specialists in areas such as traffic accident investigation/reconstruction, crime scene processing, evidence testing, firearms use and qualification, crime prevention, criminal investigation and hostage negotiation among others.

  January 22, 2011 - Commissioners Promote a Pair of City Policemen

  October 8, 2010 - City Promotes Policemen to Investigator

  March 24, 2010 (Sharon-Herald) - City Using Federal Stimulus Grant to Hire Policeman

Saturday, April 30th, 2011
Location : 800 North Hermitage Road & 1615 East State Street
Questions : Hermitage Police Department (724) 983-6780

New agreement keeps cop in school system
March 9, 2011— Hermitage commissioners and school board members have agreed to a new contract to keep a policeman working fulltime in the school district.

With a three-year contract ending in June, officials have adopted a new contract without a set term, said City Manager Gary P. Hinkson. The contract allows either side to end the deal with 90 days’ written notice.
The officer is a city employee falling within the police department chain of command.

The school district pays 75 percent of the school resource officer’s salary and benefits during the school year, and the city pays the rest of the cost.

School Resource Officer Anthony Moses is based in Hickory High School, but serves all of the district’s schools. Commissioners approved the agreement Tuesday and the school board approved it in February.
 

MERCER COUNTY CRIME SOLVERS - TEXT-A-TIP

Text - TIP477 and your message to CRIMES (274637)
* Standard text message & data rates may apply.

The Mercer County Crime Solvers Program in collaboration with the Mercer County Chiefs of Police Association has added a new tool to assist law enforcement in combating crime. Mercer County residents now have the ability to anonymously text message crime tips to CRIMES (274637) and the crime tip will be directed to law enforcement. Similar programs have been established across the country and in Canada with great success.

The crime tip is sent to a main server that is not associated with any police agency. The Internet based systems route messages through a server that encrypts the cell phone numbers before they reach the police.

Text-A-Tip
Text Tip477 and your message to CRIMES (274637) and the cell phone number will be stripped from the message before it is forwarded to the Mercer County 911 Center. A user id number will be assigned to the tip by the server. The user id is the only information sent with your tip to the 911 Center, An exception to this rule is if you have a signature attached to your texts. Your signature should be disabled before sending the tip or else it will appear in the body of the tip.

Text-A-Tip provides anonymous two-way communication between the tipster and the police. This program enables police officers to contact the tipster if they need additional information to follow-up on the tip effectively.

  Click here for more information on TEXT-A-TIP
 

CITY OF HERMITAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT RIGHT-TO-KNOW POLICY

According to the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act, public records are to be accessible for inspection and duplication by any person who is a legal resident of the United States, unless the record, information or access is otherwise limited or prohibited by law. This general order will provide guidelines and procedures to follow regarding this Act.

It shall be the policy of the Hermitage Police Department that all officers and personnel shall become familiar with and comply with the provisions of this general order.

  Hermitage Police Department Right-to-Know Policy

  City of Hermitage Right-to-Know Request Form

  City of Hermitage Right-to-Know Officer

Gary P. Hinkson, City Manager
City of Hermitage Municipal Building
800 North Hermitage Road
Hermitage, PA 16148
P: (724) 981-0800
F: (724) 981-2008
E-Mail: ghinkson@hermitage.net

  Appeals Officer

Robert G. Kochems
District Attorney of Mercer County
Room 209, Mercer County Courthouse
Mercer, Pennsylvania 16137
P: 724-662-3800 x2287

Solicitation: Hermitage has an ordinance which requires businesses and non-profit organizations to obtain solicitation permits. The police department verifies whether those soliciting have ever been convicted of a crime - in which case the permit would be denied. People who have been granted permission to solicit are given an identification card. So if you are approached by someone who is not wearing the proper identification, call 911.

Accident Reports: The police department will make available copies of accident reports at a cost of $5.00 for Hermitage residents and $10.00 for non-residents.

Tours and Programs: Tours of the police department are available to any citizen, group, or service organization. To make arrangements, please contact the administrative office of the police department giving your name, phone number, and group size. Members of the police department are also available to present programs to groups and residential neighborhoods on many police-related topics. Again, contact the administrative office of the police department.

D.A.R.E. Program: A School Resource Police Officer is assigned to teach the D.A.R.E. Program, which educates the students, teachers, and administrators in public and private schools of the effects of drugs, alcohol, and violence. The following are a few tips to parents:

- Establish family rules that make the use of drugs non-negotiable and violence unacceptable.
- Educate yourself about drugs so you can talk informatively with your children and answer their questions.
- Talk with your children. Try to establish uniform rules that make access to drugs and alcohol harder for your children and their friends - such as a curfew, the amount of spending money they receive, and their use of a car.
- If problems arise, try to seek advice and counsel from someone both you and your child respect and can relate to.

C.O.P.S. Program: The Hermitage Police Department recognizes the importance of providing crime prevention techniques, and "Community Oriented Policing Services" offers programs and services to the community such as: bicycle safety and registration; home security; operation identification (personal property IDs); personal security (how not to become a victim); senior citizen crime prevention programs; plus many more. If you are interested in any of these programs or would like a full list of additional programs, call the Hermitage Police Department at (724) 983-6780 and ask for Police Chief McElhinney, or e-mail him at pmcelhinny@hermitage.net.

Service: When in need of police response, CALL 911. This number is for anytime you need a police officer to respond to your home or business. The 911 office is located in Mercer with the capability of identifying the address and phone number from which you are calling. This service is called Enhanced 911 and is paid in part each month as a special charge on your telephone.

If there is an after hour administrative question that will not require a police officer response, you can call 724-662-6100 and speak to an employee of the 911 center. To contact the administrative offices of the Hermitage police department, you can call the numbers listed below between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday:

FINGERPRINT HOURS: Fingerprint hours are MONDAY – THURSDAY 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM. NO FINGERPRINTS ARE DONE ON FRIDAY. *Depending on how busy officers are, fingerprint times may not be applicable.  If an officer's) is on an emergency call, they will not return to station to do fingerprinting. FINGERPRINTING for job applicants is provided “free of charge” to all HERMITAGE residents or those working in HERMITAGE.  If you do not meet either of these two criteria, you will be referred to your local police department. Proof of ID is required in all instances.  If you are NOT a resident of Hermitage, a statement from the employer requiring you to be printed must be provided on company letterhead, stating the address of the business in Hermitage.

Records and Information: 724-983-6780
Investigation and Juvenile: 724-983-6782
Administrative: 724-983-6784
Fax Line: 724-983-6786

Other phone numbers of reference for police-related issues:

District Judge for Hermitage: 724-346-3591
Mercer County Courthouse: 724-662-3800
PA State Police: 724-662-4200

For more information, contact:

Mr. Pat McElhinny, Chief of Police
800 North Hermitage Road
Hermitage, PA 16148
Admin: 724-983-6780
EMERGENCY: 9-1-1
24 hour, non-emergency contact: 724-662-6110
pmcelhinny@hermitage.net

Police Department Photos:

Squad cars outside the City Building