New Lansdale police officers Richard Schenk, John Ruel and James Gray police with police Lieutenant Ryan Devlin, far left, and Mayor Garry Herbert, far right, after receiving their oaths and badges on March 15, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Lansdale PD)
Replacement could be needed for sergeant nearing retirement
Another year could bring a departure, and another new addition, to the Lansdale Police Department.
Council took up talks on approving another new police hire this summer, on the heels of four new additions to the department just last year.
“It almost feels like every year, we talk about hiring,” said police Chief Mike Trail.
In 2023 the department added four new officers, based on lengthy discussions in 2022 about increasing the department’s staffing levels to keep up with the population growth of the town. Those hires put the department at “a high-water mark for staffing” with a total of 29 officers, the chief told council’s public safety committee meeting on April 3, but the department has since lost one officer and learned of a pending retirement of a sergeant later this year.
“Last fall, we actually appointed an additional sergeant, because we had a list that was fresh, and we had people on it. So we have the sergeant, but when the sergeant retires, we’re going to need to backfill his position, and then hire an officer,” Trail said.
His request to the public safety committee: to activate the town’s civil service commission, to administer exams for police candidates in order to start the hiring process. Mayor Garry Herbert, who has written extensively in his Mayoral Musings column about police staffing levels, added his own support for the request.
“We’ve talked a lot about it in this committee, but having the right number of officers on the force is extremely important,” he said.
Last year, one of the four new hires was offered the job before completing police academy training, and Trail said the new hire this year could also be a trainee, depending on how many applicants the civil service commission vets and recommends.
If council votes to activate the civil service commission soon, the chief told the committee, that group could start the process in early May, conduct testing during that month, and have a list of candidates by late summer, so any hire could be approved and finalized before the next police academy session starts in September.
“And we actually get almost 100 percent of that (academy) cost recouped from the state — we get that reimbursed,” Trail said.
The public safety committee voted unanimously to recommend the request for full council action later this month, and committee chairwoman Meg Currie Teoh said she hopes the timing of the request puts the borough “ahead of the game.”
“That gives us time to go through all of the testing, lists, interviews, screening and so on, and hopefully have some good candidates to pick from,” she said.
Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on April 17 and the public safety committee next meets at 6:30 p.m. on May 1, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.
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