amateur photograph submitted by reader / anonymous
The Center Township Police Department has begun providing security at Cinemark Movie Theatre.
The Beaver County Sheriff’s Office stopped providing security for the company about two weeks ago, after Senior Erie County Judge John Bozza issued a temporary injunction preventing them from performing the work. The judge ruled that Sheriff David was likely in violation of a state law that prohibited Sheriffs from providing private security services to outside organizations. The ruling, which has been appealed by David, came as a result of a lawsuit filed against him by County Commissioners, after an investigative report by the Beaver Countian first revealed the extent of his activities.
While state law prohibits Sheriff’s Offices from doing private security work, such details can be performed by municipal police departments under the Pennsylvania County Code. Center Township Police Chief Barry Kramer tells the Beaver Countian that his department has now signed a contract to provide security for Cinemark.
“The entire detail is covered by a written contract between Center Township, the Center Township Police Department, and Cinemark Theatre,” said Chief Kramer. “Solicitor Dale Fouse drafted the contract at my request, and it has been signed by all parties. It clearly outlines our duties while at Cinemark, and provides a breakdown of the wages, which include an hourly rate paid to the officer at time and a half, along with workers’ comp and limited liability insurances. It comes out to $50 per hour paid by Cinemark, covering all costs to the municipality.”
A preliminary audit conducted of the Sheriff’s Office by Beaver County Controller David Rossi revealed that private security work performed by Deputies had been underbilled by Sheriff David, costing taxpayers an estimated $100,000. David had no contract with any of the organizations he was providing security for, which Rossi said exposed county taxpayers to potential liabilities.
Sheriff David pleaded his Fifth Amendment Rights against self incrimination last month at a hearing held in the lawsuit filed against him by County Commissioners.
28 Comments From Our Readers
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WOW! I THOUGHT THE WORLD WAS SUPPOSE TO END AND ALL BEAVER COUNTY WAS GONNA BE EAT BY A GIANT BLACK HOLE OF DOOM AFTER GEORGIE WAS STOPPED FROM BEING RENTA COP AT WALMART AND CINEMARK??????????
YOU MEAN THERE ARE REAL OFFICERS IN THE COUNTY TO DO POLICE WORK WHEN GEORGIES NOT AROUND?????????
HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DOES THIS MEAN THAT GEORGIE CAN BE ARRESTED NOW THAT CINEMARK IS SAFE???????????
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Good job Chief Kramer! You handled this professionally and we’re proud of you and the department!
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I am sure this is higher than the Sheriff charged but it’s nice that is is ultimately paid for by the business and not all BC taxpayers. Even if I may ultimately pay the price in higher ticket prices. I am ok with that.
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The funny part about this ,is when the Cimemark first wanted security there Barry kramer was asked first and he refused it so they called the sheriffs office,now he wants to do it.WTF
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Well George, now the best thing you can do now is arrest Chief Kramer. Yeah, go ahead and try,
I’m sure you won’t get the break that your brother gets !
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Well what do you know…..George IS replaceable. This arrangement is how it should have been done a long time ago. Hey, George, see how it work……the police chief engages the town officials and solicitor and a contract is signed….and best of all, the business pays for it. So I guess this means the citizens are safe and George can go to jail now.
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They have been providing for a long while now, weekends that I have seen.
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Awesome let real cops do their job and get paid for it!
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ill be going to cinemark this weekend to show my support
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Why do they need security?
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do u live under a rock or in a cave Elizabeth??? DUH!!!
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Two words…..Aurora, Colorado.
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as they should; that town reaps the profits of the movie theater…so why do my county tax dollars pay for security there, at a loss to the county!
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Jim,
Go back and read the article. Your comments make no sense.
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Jim,
I stand corrected. I understand your point after I read your comment 6 times. You are stating that your tax dollars should not fund the Sheriff at Cinemark not the CTPD. Gotcha.
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and now that extra county cops are available, maybe they can post a few on the street corners or Ambridge, so average citizens can walk safely once the sun goes down….
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Wonder how long before good ol’ Gerogie goes over and starts threatening the owners for hiring Center PD for this. Bet he’s pissed now.
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A police presence in movie theaters goes back at least to the 1950′s. The Beaver Movie Theater had Sergeant “Sarg” Miller to monitor the place. Why? Because kids at the Saturday
afternoon matinée were out of control at times. It was horrible. On their way in, kids were scanned by him for bean shooters, water pistols, cap guns and marbles. Showers of beans would rain through the projector beam and onto the screen, kids in front seats were soaked by squirt guns behind them, at least one cap gun would be fired, and fistfuls of marbles dropped under the back seats would roll the whole way down the sloped floor to the front, clacking against the steel chair legs as the picked up speed. At the movie’s end — especially a Tarzan flick — kids ran up the aisles screaming Ahyeeeagh! and knocking down the smaller ones. Sarg confiscated contraband, stood fearless amidst the oncoming onslaught of urchins and maintained a semblance of order. God bless him. What a blast! And all for just the 25 cents admission. Times have changed.
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It’s no big deal about the time, JP. I was just curious. But at least I now know that someone out there doesn’t have a time machine.
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Begin? I thought they are always there.
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Francine, you posted your cryptic comment at 11:48 A.M., 2/26/13, 5 minutes after mine. That’s four time zones to the east difference. Where do you live across the Pond? Am I missing something here? Are we in a time warp? You seem to be straddling the GMT. Even with an hour difference, plus or minus, the math doesn’t add up for me. Please help.
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OK. I get it. You work in Beaver Falls. But why the time difference? Actually, who cares… I was just curious. Perhaps it’s just a computer clock glitch.
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You’re right about the “computer clock glitch.” The problem occurs when people post comments using their Facebook account. Facebook reports the times as UTC instead of the timezone of the system being imported into.
My understanding is that Facebook is going to have a fix in their api at some point, but if not I’ll code a work-around.
Sorry about any confusion.
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Oh my, what are some of the deputies going to do now without the overtime? I work 40 hours a week and can’t even come close, in a year, to what some of them made in a couple of months. But, THE SHERIFF states that his illegal services will resume as in the past. Hooray! Now some wont lose their homes or bright shiny new cars (or Harleys).
George you really screwed some of your own men by being “STUPID”.
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Georgie=Dicky
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Hey, Sd cant loose a harley!!!! LOL
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Attention attention attention beaver county sheriff deputies you can thank your own Sheriff for all of this and his crack pot legal staff.
1, no contracts or it might have never came up
2. His Buddie didn’t get uniform bid which saved money ,
3, pulled gun allegedly and threaten people,hence state police microscope up departments ass
4, he went on TV saying no judge, commissioner will tell him, welcome to present day
5, he stripped the boys from union rights and certain few went along with it, but he has balls To ASK FOR YOU GUYS TO USE YOUR ASSOCIATION DUES TO PAY FOR HIS LEGAL BILLS, WHICH HAS DAMN NEAR BANKRUPT YOU GUYS ANYWAYS DEFENDING HIS BULL SHIT THAT GOT YOU GUYS IN THIS MESS,
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I just hope that all the people reading and responding to these articles about
Georgie Boy, don’t forget when they walk into the voting booth and go,DUH, George David, I know that name, I’ll vote for him