Chief Sheller Named VP of County Chiefs Group

Parkesburg's Police Chief Brian Sheller has been named 2nd Vice President of the Chester County Police Chiefs Association.

The county's Police Chiefs Association fosters the development of a close personal and official relationship between the executive officers of the various law enforcement departments across Chester County as well as promote standards and training of local police officers.

The two year term affords Chief Sheller the opportunity to conduct meetings in the absence of the President or Vice President as well as take on special assignments advancing the objectives of Chester County Law Enforcement under the direction of the President.

These new duties and responsibilities are in addition to the duties Chief Sheller Commanding the County's Major Incident Response Team, a post he was appointed to in  in 2008.  

The team is funded through the Southeast Regional Task Force and works under the direction of Chester County's District Attorney.

Congratulations Chief Sheller!  Continued success in all your endeavors.

2010 Police Activity and Receipt Summary

 
The annual report for Parkesburg's Police Department as presented by Chief Brian Sheller at the January's Borough Council Meeting:

• Total Incidents: 6709, an 8% increase over 2009's incidents.
• Traffic Incidents: 954, a 25% reduction over 2009's incidents.
• N-Traffic Incidents: 105, a 40% reduction over 2009's incidents.
• Criminal Incidents: 66, an 8% increase over 2009's incidents.
• Prison Transports: 61, a 42% increase over 2009's transports.
• JV incidents: 43, a 131% increase over 2009's incidents.
• Parking Citations: 84, a 2% increase over citations issued on 2009.
• Total Receipts: $492,273.88, a 4% reduction in 2009 receipts.
• Mileage: 95,539, a 4% increase over 2009 miles traveled.

Parkesburg's police department serves not just the Borough of Parkesburg but Highland Township, Atglen Borough, Avondale Borough as well as security and traffic control services to the Octorara School District on an as-needed bases.

Receipt Summary:

• Fines:                  $  75,015.97
• County:              $    8,240.68
• Insurance:           $      920.00
• Parking Tickets:  $      630.00
• State Grants:       $   2,710.95
• Special Ops:        $  55,839.87
• Misc:                   $    7,981.60
• Contracts:           $340,934.76

• Atglen:          $192,345.00
• Avondale:      $  89,251.36
• Highland:      $   59,338.40

• Total:                   $492,273.88

What's The Value Of A Church?

In December I posted pictures of the nine churches that call Parkesburg home.

Beginning with the Bethany A.M.E. church on Green Street and ending with the Church of the Open Bible on East Main Street, the lists the name and address of the church and, when available, the name of the pastor/reverend/priest as well as the church's web site.

Why take up the time and the space to document Parkesburg's spiritual side?  Because our nine churches (and the half dozen or so just outside our borders) contribute significantly to our towns charity, well being and character.

Now from the University of Pennsylvania comes a study documenting the economic impact a single church has on a community.

According to an article in the Inquirer this morning, "the study added up the money generated by weddings and funerals, festivals, counseling programs, preschools, elder care of a dozen Philadelphia churches. They tallied the salaries of staff and the wages of roofers, plumbers, even snow shovelers. They put dollar signs on intangibles, too, such as helping people find work and teaching children to be socially responsible.  They even measured the diameter of trees on church campuses."

The grand total of the economic benefit derived from the 12 congregations?  A cool $50 million dollars.

I seriously doubt Parkesburg's 9 churches generate anywhere near that amount.

However, the study gives us yet another reason to appreciate the spiritual, cultural, and now economic contribution each of these congregations make to our town.