At Tuesday night’s Indiana Borough Council work session, Mayor Bill Simmons gave an update on the investigation into allegations made against police Chief Justin Schawl.
Simmons said an internal investigation determined that comments made by Retired Borough Chief Detective John Scherf accusing Schawl of misconduct were “retaliatory in nature,” and that none of the allegations were backed by sufficient evidence. He adds that officials with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office considered the case “closed” and recommended no further action after the accusations were referred to them in February. Simmons concluded by saying the borough has “full faith and confidence,” in both Schawl and in the Indiana Borough Police Department. For more context on the allegations, click here.
After the meeting, Schawl said he wants to move forward from this topic and that he plans on continuing to help residents within the borough.
The seven-month investigation involved several entities, including the Indiana County District Attorney’s Office, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and Attorney Jocelyn P. Kramer of Weiss, Burkardt, Kramer, LLC., who handled the internal investigation.
In other business, Schawl presented his annual mid-year report to borough council.
During his presentation, Schawl said there were 7,327 total incidents so far this year, which surpassed the halfway total for 2020, 2021 and 2022. While the number seems high, Schawl said the volume of school security checks inflated the numbers.
Schawl added that problems that affected the borough dating as far back as 2020 continue to be issues this year.
