After six years of service, one of Greensburg’s police dogs has retired.
Falco, who served on the city’s police force since 2015 alongside handler Patrolman Justin Scalzo, retired June 18.
Council members unanimously approved Falco’s retirement during Monday’s meeting.
“We wish him all the best as he begins his well deserved retirement,” Greensburg Mayor Robert Bell said at the meeting.
During his time on the force, Falco assisted in several incidents and has made appearances at events like the Fire Prevention Day held outside Westmoreland Mall and gave demonstrations at Westmoreland County Camp Cadet.
Falco previously served alongside Scalzo with the Jeannette Police Department. Jeannette retired Falco, giving the dog to Scalzo when he moved to Greensburg in 2014. Falco in 2015 joined Dax, then the city’s only police dog. Dax retired last year and died soon after at 13.
Teen apprehended in connection with Jeannette shooting triblive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from triblive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Two boys were sent to a hospital after being shot Wednesday evening in Jeannette.
A Westmoreland County emergency dispatcher said the incident took place shortly before 6 p.m. along the 100 block of Locust Street.
Jeannette Police Chief Shannon Binda said one of the boys was shot in the hand and the other was shot in the thigh. The wounds are not believed to be life-threatening.
No other injuries were reported.
A section of Locust Street was closed for several hours.
Additional details weren’t immediately available. The investigation is continuing.
Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Some local police chiefs are having a tough time finding officers to join their forces.
Jeannette recently advertised seeking candidates to take a civil service test. It received three applications.
Irwin had five applicants for its test all of whom were already part-time officers in the borough.
After receiving just three candidates in its search, Latrobe officials extended its deadline, pushed its advertising campaign on social media and reached out to two local training academies for help recruiting. The effort brought in 16 applications.
All three chiefs said they believe the current national climate toward policing is playing a role.
“We’ve seen a startling decline in applications,” said Latrobe Police Chief John Sleasman.