Robert Payne, it turns out, was the man for two jobs.
The trouble for Pitcairn is that Payne can work only one. Tabbed by the Borough Council in February to be Pitcairn's new police chief, Payne is headed for Plum. He was hired there Tuesday as the new police chief, a job that will bump his salary from $44,000 to $60,000 a year.
"We're disappointed," said Pitcairn council President Orelio Vecchio. "We all thought that Chief Payne was the man for the job. He is a hands-on chief, which I like. (But) you can't hold a man back from advancing himself.
"He did very well here," Vecchio added. "We'll miss him."
Now Pitcairn is searching again for a new chief; the job had been open for more than a year after Dave McIntyre's retirement. Borough Manager Domenic Curinga, meanwhile, will serve as public safety director, a role he filled while Pitcairn was without a chief.
Curinga "was never really taken out of it," Vecchio said. "He'll still be assisting the department. We're still seeing what direction to go in."
Although his time in Pitcairn was short, Payne, 56, says parting with officers and borough officials won't be easy.
"I was there only three months, but we built some solid relationships," Payne said. "They are great guys and great people."
A former chief of police at Carlow College and Carnegie Mellon University, Payne also was as an Allegheny County detective, working several high-profile cases, including those involving serial murderer Edward Surratt and contract killer Richard Henkel, along with a kidnapping plot against the late Steelers owner Art Rooney.
In Pitcairn, Payne hosted a community forum to introduce himself to residents. He also was known to patrol the neighborhoods in his car and walk the streets to talk one-on-one with residents. And he attended a community watch meeting to provide insight into getting the program up and running.
"He did a phenomenal job," said Pitcairn businessman Dan Castagnero, one of the leaders of the community watch group. "He got us going in the right direction. He's just been wonderful.
"If there was a problem, he'd be right there. He beefed up beat patrols, and he had the officers out in the community walking the streets."
Payne said he plans to incorporate the same strategies in Plum.
"When you join the two (the community and the police), you have a powerful force," he said. "I will be out in the community and meeting as many citizens as I can to gain their confidence and trust."
Pitcairn officials can only hope that the search for a new chief will be quicker -- and easier -- than the last one.
Penn Hills police Sgt. Ben Westwood was hired for the job in December 2001 but was fired by a new council the next month, less than a week after he started the job. Westwood sued, claiming he had been wrongfully removed. A judge eventually backed the borough, clearing the way for Payne's hiring a year after he applied for the job.
Pitcairn police Sgt. Russ Cain -- promoted after Payne was hired -- also applied for the chief's job and could be a candidate in the new search.
