While Nesquehoning is still in the process of gathering applications for a fifth full-time police officer, council on Thursday decided that a sixth full-time officer was also needed.

Councilman Lou Paul, chairman of the police and public safety committee, said that in recent weeks, the borough has lost a few of its part-time police staff.

Because of this, Chief Michael Weaver told the public safety committee that the force could not provide round-the-clock coverage in the borough. The borough currently has four full-time officers, including Weaver.

Paul said an emergency public safety committee was called and the members feel that it is necessary to have complete coverage by the borough police rather than having state police cover some of the time.

He then recommended council add a sixth officer to the force in addition to the fifth officer it was already advertising.

His reasoning was because the police are overloaded with calls and the lack of officers is causing the current staff to work overtime. To date, overtime has totaled $12,000 for the police.

Mayor Tom Kattner said that Weaver has been sometimes working 12-hour shifts and then has paperwork to file that takes even more time.

He agreed that a sixth officer would help provide the coverage the borough deserves, while cutting back on the overtime the current staff needs to work.

Council said that while it is nice to be able to have state police help out, they are also providing coverage for multiple municipalities and are not located close to the borough.

Paul said that the way of the world is that part-time police officers aren’t staying because they look for full-time work so it is a revolving door.

“We have to be at a stable point,” he said. “I guarantee that any taxpayer in this town would say they want public security.”

“Police protection is number one to me,” Kattner added. “Public safety is my top priority.”

Councilwoman Lois Kuba said police work has changed over the years and now one officer who goes on a simple assault or child welfare call may now have upward of 30 hours of paperwork in addition to the investigation.

Council then voted to instruct the civil service commission to begin the process.

Commission member Joe Guardiani said that an estimated timeline for when a sixth officer may be hired is July 1, conservatively.

In other police matters, Guardiani said that the application period for the fifth police officer has been extended due to the fact that only one application had been received by the first deadline. The commission is hoping to get at least two, if not three or more applications.

Council also voted 6-1 to approve recommended changes to the requirements for police hiring. These changes include dropping the polygraph requirement, including a psychological exam and allowing Weaver to conduct the physical agility testing for candidates.

Councilman Bruce Nalesnik voted no because he felt the polygraph should not be removed from the requirements.