Police dog in sheriff's controversy heads for greener grass

Westmoreland County's newest park police force officer should see less controversy in his latest job.

Diesel, the drug-sniffing dog that since 2014 worked with the county sheriff's department, has been transferred to the park police, another turn in the ongoing flap between Sheriff Jonathan Held, one of the deputies in his office and county commissioners.

“Now our officers are making many arrests at the parks and the courthouse for drugs such as heroin and marijuana. Getting a dog into service and in the real world will contribute to that. There's definitely enough work out there,” park police Chief Kirk Nolan said.

Park police officers made more than two dozen drug arrests last year, Nolan said.

Diesel has been the subject of an ongoing dispute since last fall, when he was taken from his handler, Deputy Jason Grecco. Held said the dog had been off duty for months, essentially became a family pet and in November ordered the canine reassigned to another deputy in his office.

Commissioners jumped into the fray in December, accusing Held of lying about his reasons for having the dog removed from Grecco's care and eventually negotiated a settlement to have the deputy and dog transferred to the park police department.

Commissioners pulled that deal off the table last month after Grecco filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against Held and the sheriff's department.

According to the lawsuit, Grecco contends Held removed the dog from his care in retaliation for speaking with investigators from the state Attorney General's Office who were looking into allegations of election law violations by the sheriff.

Grecco continues to work as a sheriff's deputy.

Meanwhile, Diesel will begin a new training program to regain certification as a drug-sniffing dog. He will initially be paired with park police officer Bill Myers, who also handles Rex, the department's explosives-sniffing dog.

That program is expected to take about three weeks.

Once recertified, Diesel will be deployed in the parks and work with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Drug Task force and other county municipal police departments, Nolan said.

Commissioners spent recent weeks negotiating with Held about the dog's future.

“This all could have been avoided had the sheriff better managed the program and his personnel,” said Commissioner Ted Kopas.

Held on Monday chafed at Kopas' comments and said he agreed to transfer the dog to the park police at the urging of commissioners Gina Cerilli and Charles Anderson.

“When was the last time he came down to my office to see how it works? He hasn't in six years,” Held said of Kopas.

The sheriff said he will seek grants for his office to purchase another dog for the department.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.