CHAMBERSBURG – February 9, Allen Coffman, Councilman for Ward 1 in Chambersburg, talked with News Talk 103.7 this morning about last night’s Chambersburg Council meeting. Cori Seilhamer, Franklin County Mental Health Coordinator, and Jen Ewing, Crisis Intervention Specialist, addressed the council about how mental health is worked into the situations dealt with by the police department. “Mental health plays an extremely large part in law enforcement today,” Coffman noted.
The Chambersburg Police Department is 100 percent trained in Crisis Intervention thanks to the work of Seilhamer and Ewing. “They’ve been able to make a significant impact to help our police officers and free their time to do police work,” Coffman said.
One hundred eighty-four county police officers have been trained in the program and calls to the police station have been reduced from 38 in ten months to almost nothing, according to Coffman. Coffman announced the appointment of replacement probational patrol officers for the Chambersburg Police Department.
Two of the three are in the police academy at HACC right now and will graduate some time in the spring. All will be on the police roster as of the end of this month. Two of the three are fluent in both Spanish and English. “We were very fortunate to get these gentlemen,” Coffman said.
A report from the Planning and Zoning Commission Director, Phil Wolgemuth, discussed the forward momentum of the Creekside apartments on Hollywell Avenue, as well as the announcement that more apartments will be built on Benedict Drive and Progress Road.
King Street Church will also be adding and addition to their building as well. Coffman then discussed the conditional appointment for seven firefighters. Borough Manager, Jeffrey Stonehill, reported that firefighters are retiring and will need to be replaced. “There’s a lot of urgency here…there’s only one fire academy a year and that starts in March,” Coffman explained. “Time is of the essence to get them into the academy.”
Names of the appointees will be revealed after they’ve accepted and passed the final steps in the process.
