Hamilton Street Community Policing Office Opened With Ice Cream, Pizza Party

Township police held a grand opening for their community policing office on Hamilton Street Sept. 23 with an ice cream and pizza party.

The face of Hamilton Street underwent a subtle change Sept. 23 with the opening of the township police’s Pat Gianotto Memorial Community Policing Center.

Located at the corner of Hamilton and Main streets, the office will initially be manned four hours a week – from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and 4-6 p.m. on Thursdays – by officers Steven Ellmeyer and Deyo “DW” Swartz. Ellmeyer and Swartz comprise the bicycle-mounted Neighborhood Police Team that was deployed last year for the Hamilton Street Business District.

The office’s grand opening was heralded with a party. Students from area schools were invited to come down for ice cream and pizza, supplied by Dairy Delite and Nicola’s Pizza. Many parents stopped by as well, pausing to speak with the officers.

Accessibility to residents in the Hamilton Street area was behind the office, said Police Chief Lawrence Roberts.

“We wanted to have it to make the officers more accessible to everybody that lives in this area,” he said. “Whether they’re young kids or they’re elderly people, they want to talk, they want to file a report. I think just having the office wil make it easier.”

He said the office will also give the department “a presence to deal with quality of life issues.”

Roberts said the officers will also be available at the office by appointment.

“They just want to talk to the officers, they need help with anything, they just need advice,” he said.

Mayor Philip Kramer was one of several township officials on hand at the opening he was joined by Township Councilwomen Roz Sherman (D-Ward 2) and Shanel Robinson (D-At Large) and township manager Robert Vornlocker.

Kramer said siting a community policing office on Hamilton Street is “very important.”

“We’re trying to get a branch of the library up here, we’re gong to put in the youth center up here because people in this part of town often can’t get to the municipal building, so having something that’s more convenient for them in the policing area also makes sense,” he said.

The building is owned by township resident Tim Kelly, who donated it and utilities to the police for this use. Kelly is also chairman of the Hamilton Street Advisory Board.

Kelly said the idea of a community policing station on Hamilton Street had been talked about for years.

“We need a community resource policing center,” he said. “It’s good for the community and I know the town has talked about it for the last 20 years, so I had the space, and figured this was the best use for it.”

The center was named for the late Pat Gianotto, owner of Franklin Electric and a champion of the business district for decades.

“Pat was a great guy, he was on this street for 50 years,” Kelly said. “He was the main push behind this, but unfortunately he passed away.”

2016 Community Policing Office Opens

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