Photo by Lynne Deliman
Officers Justin Kluchurosky (left) and William Kelly (right) stand beside McKees Rocks Chief Rick Deliman (center) after receiving awards for each offering life-saving assistance to gunshot victims during recent shootings.-POLICE-
By Jamie Wiggan
Two McKees Rocks officers have been recognized by borough officials for helping save the lives of gunshot victims during recent shooting incidents.
Police Chief Rick Deliman presented certificates to officers Justin Kluchurosky and William Kelly during the July 13 council meeting.
“Council and I are honoring two of our police officers for things they have done that in all likelihood contributed to saving peoples’ lives on two separate occasions,” Deliman said.
Deliman recalled the two incidents to the council before presenting the awards.
Kelly responded to reports of shots fired at the 300 block of Hamilton Street on May 20, where he found a man bleeding in several places. He applied a tourniquet to the victim’s thigh and pressure to a wound on his shoulder.
Kluchurosky was on patrol June 6 when reports came in of shots fired at Russelwood Street near the Sto-Rox football field, where an exhibition game was taking place.
Kluchurosky also applied a tourniquet to the victim, which helped stem blood loss until medics arrived on the scene.
Deliman said the officers’ actions highlight some of the daily acts of service by police officers that have been obscured by rising criticism brought against law enforcement since George Floyd’s murder in Minnesota last May.
“It’s been a really tough year to be a police officer,” Deliman said. “There have been incidents that have overshadowed the many good things officers do on a daily basis that nobody hears about.”
In other police news:
Council approved the creation of a new captain position July 13 that will equip the department with enough ranking officers to have one accompany every shift. Deliman said promotions would be determined by standardized testing. The department currently has one sergeant in addition to the chief.
Council also approved a $9,276 transfer from the payroll to the police pension account, following a clerical error that took place sometime during 2020.