Making an impact

By MELISSA KLARIC

Herald Staff Writer

HERMITAGE – Police Chief Eric Jewell wants criminals to know: Hermitage police “can appear anywhere, at any time, in unpredictable numbers and in unconventional manners.”

Because now, in addition to routine police patrols, the department schedules special, intermittent enforcement details that Jewell calls “impact patrols.”

“The purpose of the added manpower is to have an impact ... on criminal activity in higher crime areas of Hermitage and Wheatland,” Jewell said in a press release. “This is also in response to the heroin and opioid crisis and increased violent crime in the Shenango Valley during the past 12 months or so.”

Officers and detectives working impact patrols will be in pairs, on foot or in a vehicle, Jewell said.

The first impact patrol on July 19 was a success, generating three arrests, Jewell said.

Two people were arrested on

See PATROLS, page A-2

Hermitage police are adding special patrols – called “impact patrols” – to their routine to crack down on drug and violent crimes.

CORY BYKNISH | Herald