Phoenixville Swears In 29th Police Officer: Report

PHOENIXVILLE, PA -- Phoenixville swore in its 29th police officer during the borough council meeting on Tuesday night.

Officer Anthony J. Duchnosky, 27, recited his oath in front of the mayor and council, according to a report.

Duchnosky is a veteran of the Coatesville and West Caln forces.

Police said his starting salary is $64,000.

A resident called for further expansion of the police department later in the meeting, citing the February 14 shooting incident which remains unsolved, according to the Times Herald.

The additional manpower is needed, police say, to address the growth in the borough and the need for additional patrols during "high volume" call times between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m.

Calls for additional officers have come up frequently in the past and have caused controversy, including when Vinny Vegas first requested a liquor license.

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At that time, Councilwoman Catherine Doherty was the lone dissenting voice when the council voted 7-1 to approve an economic development liquor license to the pizza parlor.

“I just want us to keep in mind, at a holistic level, that as we add liquor licenses, as we add a thousand units of apartments and living spaces over the course of a year, we can’t at the same time turn around and say ‘well you can have 29 police officers but you can’t have 30," she said, according to the Mercury.

The Mayor has been calling for additional officers since at least November of 2014, when he penned an open letter:

If you increase the amount of new homes and neighborhoods that have to be patrolled without increasing the staff to conduct the patrols, it will take the same officer a longer amount of time to complete his rounds which reduces the amount of times he gets to patrol a given area during his shift.

Including apartments and townhomes, thousands of new residences have been added around the borough in the last two decades.