Lackawanna College Police Academy Hosts Inaugural Roundtable Event

The Lackawanna College Police Academy hosted its inaugural roundtable event at the College’s Hazleton Center on March 1, 2022. The roundtable invited leaders in local law enforcement to share ideas, concerns and recommendations on top issues currently facing law enforcement.
During the event moderator Kevin Mahoney, Assistant Director of Academy Operations for Lackawanna College and roundtable panelist discussed hiring efforts, the difficulty in attracting qualified candidates and creative practices that departments used to recruit and retain law enforcement officers.

“Law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation are in the middle of a recruitment and retention crisis,” said John Chilleri, Lackawanna College Director of Academy Operations. “It’s increasingly difficult to attract qualified applicants to the profession. This event provided a forum to discuss issues and offer creative ideas to help police departments in their recruitment efforts.”

Chilleri provided opening remarks and introduced the panelists and was joined for the roundtable by: Guy Salerno- Chief of Blakely Police Department Joseph Coffay- Chief of Wilkes-Barre Police Department Brian Schoonmaker – Chief of Hazleton Police Department Lt. Richard Nesbitt – Commander of Recruitment Services, Pennsylvania State Police

Founded in 1894, Lackawanna College is a private, accredited college serving the people of northeastern Pennsylvania. With the main campus situated in downtown Scranton, Lackawanna’s expanding footprint also includes satellite centers in Hawley, Hazleton, Sunbury, Towanda, Tunkhannock and the Environmental Education Center in Covington Township. Learn more at www.lackawanna.edu.