web1_mjh.jpg

Life Deconstructed: For whom the wedding bells toll

web1_LittleLeagueSoftball_3.jpg

Back Mountain defeats Nanticoke in Section 5 9-10 softball

<p>FORTY FORT &#8212; A handful of police officers have been hanging up their handcuffs and grabbing nail guns at borough police headquarters.</p><p>The Forty Fort police station hasn&#8217;t had a renovation since 1975, according to Mayor Andy Tuzinski.</p><p>That is until last month, when police Chief Dan Hunsinger and Officers Adam Michaels and Matthew Smith started swinging hammers and tearing down walls, beginning the demolition phase of a major station overhaul.</p><p>&#8220;I actually went to school for building construction. And I have an officer (Smith) who works for his father, who is a contractor, on a regular basis. And Officer Michaels spent about four years working with a construction company. So we all have the know-how,&#8221; Hunsinger said on Wednesday during a construction break.</p><p>&#8220;I figured early on, when there was no funding for this project, the only way we were going to get it done is if we did it ourselves. The budget&#8217;s pretty tight, so the borough couldn&#8217;t afford to pay someone to do it. So we asked: &#8216;If we can come up with some funding, if we did the work ourselves, would we be able to do it?&#8217; And the answer was yes,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The Fallen Officers Remembered organization provided a $6,700 grant through the Luzerne Foundation for a bulletproof door and window at a new reception desk and a new pass-through security door to enter the building. The organization previously provided a grant for body armor for Forty Fort officers.</p><p>The borough manager also applied for a Local Share Account state grant funded by gaming taxes and was successful in securing a $115,790 grant this year for police department renovations.</p><p>Tuzinski said he has been able to help the department get materials at cost, at less than cost or free thanks to connections he&#8217;s made over the years in the building and construction trade, and he&#8217;s supplied many of the tools that the officers are using. Local businesses have donated materials as well, he said.</p><p>&#8220;The chief came to me with this idea and I supported it whole-heartedly. But I cannot stress enough the pride as mayor I have in our police officers. Their commitment to the community doesn&#8217;t end when their shift ends,&#8221; Tuzinski said.</p><p>&#8220;We would never be able to afford to do this as extensively as we are if it wasn&#8217;t for the chief putting together a huge puzzle: free labor, free or reduced-cost materials, grant money, donation money. This is Chief Hunsinger&#8217;s baby and I&#8217;m very glad to lend a helping hand, but I can&#8217;t stress enough that this is all his doing and the credit rests solely on him and his officers,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Hunsinger said that when the work is complete in a month or two, &#8220;it&#8217;s going to look like a new police department and it&#8217;s going to be secure. The officers aren&#8217;t going to have to worry about their safety. &#8230; When I first started here (in March 2013), I realized this has got to go,&#8221; Hunsinger said, gesturing to the current police reception desk set-up.</p><p>As if to drive home the point that updates are necessary for security purposes, Hunsinger played a video surveillance recording for a reporter showing an allegedly intoxicated man who forced open a locked exterior door to the police station and pushed out a Plexiglass window between a hallway and police reception desk on June 5.</p><p>The man allegedly had gone to the police station looking for an officer with a gripe about the way the officer handled a domestic dispute earlier in the day. The officer was out responding to another call when the man broke into the police station.</p><p>Hunsinger said renovations include the addition of an appropriately sized interview room, recalling the poor conditions under which a mother and grandmother of a 2-year-old who was killed in 2013 were interviewed. A prisoner holding room will be made slightly smaller but more secure, and Hunsinger&#8217;s office will be relocated, with additional space for files.</p><p>&#8220;It started out as a new entrance way and turned into a whole new department,&#8221; Hunsinger said.</p><p>Tuzinski again commended Hunsinger and the officers for their work and dedication.</p><p>&#8220;There are people in life who sometimes prefer to sit and complain, and then we have people who look for solutions,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Our police officers are the type who look for solutions.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL072315Police13.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Forty Fort police officer Adam Michaels hangs drywall Wednesday in the holding area of the police station, which is undergoing a major renovation, with the work being completed by the officers themselves. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL072315Police13.jpg</photo0><caption0>Forty Fort police officer Adam Michaels hangs drywall Wednesday in the holding area of the police station, which is undergoing a major renovation, with the work being completed by the officers themselves. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Forty Fort officers at work on renovations</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Steve Mocarsky</p><p>smocarsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Steve Mocarsky at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @TLSteveMocarsky.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Forty Fort cops pitch in for station upgrades