Nov. 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 11

PA. TOWN TO ADD K RE-

PA. TOWN TO ADD K RE- CRUITMENT BONUS IN HOPES OF MOTIVATING OFFICERS TO STAY WITH PD By Joanna Putman, Police1 IRWIN BOROUGH, PA. — Police in Irwin have introduced a ,000 incentive to retain newly hired police officers for at least four years, Trib Live reported. Police Chief Dan Wensel proposed the bonus program as a way to reduce turnover, as the borough often loses officers to larger departments after only a few years on the job, according to the report. Wensel, who has been with the department for 24 years, noted that about 61 officers have worked for the borough during his tenure, with only a few retiring. Under the proposed program, new officers hired in 2025 will receive a ,500 bonus upon joining, with another ,500 awarded if they remain with the department for two more years, according to the report. Officers who leave before the end of the two-year periods will be required to repay a portion of the bonus based on how long they stayed. The program is designed to keep officers from moving to higher-paying positions in nearby departments. The bonus is included in Irwin’s tentative 2025 budget, which allocates enough funds to cover bonuses for two officers, according to the report. NEW BODYCAM VIDEO SHOWS DRIVER RAMMING INTO POLICE CRUISERS IN WEYMOUTH PARKING LOT By Frank O’Laughlin, Boston 25 WEYMOUTH, MA. — Newly released bodycam video showed an out-of-control driver repeatedly ramming his Mercedes Benz into police cruisers in a parking lot in Weymouth last month. The dramatic video was captured by officers responding to the Lincoln Square laundromat at 69 Broad Street on Sunday, Sept. 22. Those officers, with service weapons drawn, ordered 29-year-old Djeff Josa to get out of the car but he refused. Josa, of Taunton, is seen in the video erratically accelerating back and forth into multiple cruisers, nearly striking officers who were on foot attempting to de-escalate the tense situation. “Yo, chill! Yo! You almost hit me with the car, dude,” one officer who dodged Josa’s Mercedes can be heard yelling in the video. Another office yelled, “Hey! Hey! Hey! Get out of the f**king car.” Officers were sent to the laundromat around 4:30 p.m. on that Sunday after receiving a 911 call for a man jumping around, singing to himself, and acting very strange, according to the Weymouth Police Department. When officers arrived at the CLICK TO WATCH scene, Josa “seemed very agitated” and was “talking very fast, slightly argumentative, and sweating profusely,” a police report indicated. When officers then decided to call an ambulance for an evaluation, Josa got into the Mercedes and started intentionally striking the cruisers. Josa ultimately drove away from the parking lot in his mangled car onto Washington Street and briefly on Route 3 southbound before crashing into the tree line, police said. Josa pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges, including five counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, during his arraignment in Quincy District Court. Video from the arraignment showed Josa bobbing his head up and down, jerking his head from side to side, smirking, and mumbling to himself as the prosecutor detailed the charges against him. A judge ordered him held without bail. An investigation remains ongoing. 68 The Blues - November ‘24

The Blues - November ‘24 69