On Thursday morning, Lansdale Police said Devlin’s extensive experience, proven leadership, and lifelong connection to the Lansdale community made this appointment an outstanding choice
Lansdale Borough Council Wednesday night officially appointed Ryan Devlin as Chief of Police of Lansdale Borough, succeeding Mike Trail, who left the post to oversee Norristown Police Department.
The vote to appoint Devlin was 5-3, with Council President Meg Currie Teoh, Council Vice President Rafia Razzak and Councilman Garry Herbert dissenting. Councilman Mike Yetter was absent from the meeting. Supporting votes were from Councilmen Andrew Carroll, Rich DiGregorio, and BJ Breish, and Councilwomen Mary Fuller and Carrie Oglesby.
Oglesby told NorthPennNow about the time she learned about hearing of Chief Mike Trail leaving the borough.
“Ryan Devlin was top of my mind. I always had great interactions with him, so I met him to learn more about him and his career. I was very impressed with Ryan and his qualifications, just like every resident I’ve spoken to about Ryan becoming our next Chief. I thought having a police chief search was the ‘typical process,’ but after researching other local municipalities, that it is not the case,” she said.
Oglesby offered a short list of other local municipalities that always promote from within and do not participate in police chief searches: Upper Gwynedd, Hatfield, Lower Salford, Telford, Upper Merion, Plymouth, Whitpain, and Whitemarsh, among others.
“I shared Ryan’s resume as well as this list of municipalities that promote from within with all of my Council colleagues. From the very beginning, I have been pro-Ryan and anti-search. I have made this clear to our entire Council. Why would we waste anyone’s time (candidates or staff) when we have a qualified candidate within our ranks who wants the position?” Oglesby said. “Staff time is not free. Their salaries are paid by taxpayer dollars. A few council members want to make the point that this police chief search was ‘free’ or ‘no cost’ because three local police chiefs were donating their time. This is clearly not true. Our staff and the selected chiefs as well as our council members’ time is not free. This process would have also taken months to complete.”
Oglesby said the council members who pushed for Devlin had no plans to support him.
“Garry’s comment at the council business meeting on Jan. 21, 2026 of ‘not wanting a bad chief’ was clear. He didn’t want Ryan as chief and said so during the meeting in front of the residents, staff and Ryan,” Oglesby said. “All council members should be mindful of what the residents of Lansdale are asking for — including the 10-plus residents who spoke publicly about wanting to hire Ryan as Chief at our meeting.”
Oglesby said she is thrilled with the appointment of Devlin.
“I’m excited to serve with him and I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together,” she said.
Councilman BJ Breish said he raised the appointment of Devlin during "Comments for the Good of the Council" specifically to foster open, public dialogue.
“I was surprised to see quotes in your follow-up from dissenters who I don't recall speaking, or saying those things during our public session, while the voices of those who spoke in favor were omitted. This imbalance resulted in a narrative that doesn't reflect the reality of the meeting. In my opinion, this is a disservice to our community and disrespectful to our new Police Chief,” Briesh told NorthPennNow. “Regarding our group dynamic and some public concern: differing perspectives are a sign of a healthy system, not a failure. We aren’t here to force a consensus, but to serve.”
Briesh said while he respects his colleagues' opinions, “agreement is not a prerequisite for progress.”
“The community — and Chief Devlin — deserve a full picture be shown of the overwhelming support he has as a leader and a fair representation of the process,” Breish said. “I regret waiting as long as I did to speak out publicly, but Mr. Sarnocinski’s comments provided the necessary catalyst. What some label ‘messy,’ I see as the growth of a transparent government. I meant what I said: I have gumption, and the community can expect to see more of it throughout the remainder of my term.”
Councilwoman Mary Fuller, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said she had been a part of several searches, for both police chiefs and borough managers, over her tenure on council.
“What made this case unique, and why I unequivocally supported the appointment of Ryan Devlin as our department's Chief of Police, was the resounding and overwhelming, and unsolicited I might add, support we (council and mayor) all received on behalf of now Chief Devlin,” Fuller told NorthPennNow. “Many of the surrounding municipal police chiefs and other public safety personnel wrote letters to us, residents expressed their support in person and in writing, as did the current borough manager and many of the department heads. But even more moving was the fact that 100% of the current department signed a letter expressing their desire to have then acting Chief Devlin appointed as their permanent chief.”
To council’s knowledge, this has never happened, ever.
“In all my time serving the Borough, I have never seen such total support, especially from as many stakeholders as mentioned here. In fact, I can't recall this kind of support for any search I've been involved in outside of the Borough either,” she said. “Given all this, this decision was truly the ‘no brainer’ people described it as. It would have been senseless, not to mention a waste of time, to prolong the selection process when our constituency and community stakeholders made their voices heard so strongly.”
Herbert, Teoh and Razzak were asked following the meeting for their reasons for dissent.
“As I stated last night, I believe Acting Chief Devlin was a excellent candidate for the role of Chief of Police," Herbert said Thursday afternoon. “However, I voted against the motion because I felt a more comprehensive vetting process was needed for such an important and prominent role in our community. Part of the hiring process should be a formalized opportunity to compare and contrast candidates to understand what strengths and weaknesses they may bring to our community or, at a bare minimum, the opportunity to discover what each final candidate prioritizes and values in their journey through policing and how that might align with our community’s perspective."
Herbert, the former borough mayor, said, in this instance, council did not have that opportunity, despite having already gathered resumes for that intended purpose.
"That being said, I am positive that Ryan will do a great job and I look forward to working with him as a councilman," Herbert said.
Teoh said her opposing vote was a reflection of her confidence in the well thought-out process that was already underway.
"Council put a significant amount of effort into creating a process that was respectful to the gravity of the appointment and the importance of the role, and hopscotching right over that was both disrespectful to all of the applicants and did a disservice to Chief Devlin by not giving him to the opportunity to be fairly measured against a broad range of candidates," Teoh said.
"I believe he could very well have emerged as the leader, but in a much stronger position, instead of being as blindsided as everyone else by abruptly being appointed at 9 o’clock at night," she said. "My opposition to this vote had little to do with him, and much to do with the impromptu nature of this important step."
Teoh said Devlin will be a terrific chief.
"I very much look forward to partnering with him to continue the forward momentum of the Lansdale Police Department," Teoh said.
Razzak said she had no doubt that Devlin is dedicated and would make a great chief and truly looks forward to working with him as a member of the borough’s safety committee.
"However, the decision felt abrupt, as the council had previously agreed to go through a full police search process," Razzak said. "I believe that process would have been beneficial not only for the borough, but also for Chief Devlin, as it would have given him the opportunity to fully demonstrate his potential."
Razzak wished him the best and hoped he continues to make the borough proud in his new role.
In a release Thursday morning, Lansdale Police said Devlin’s extensive experience, proven leadership, and lifelong connection to the Lansdale community made this appointment an outstanding choice.
“He has been a trusted colleague and a respected mentor, whose guidance, dedication, and commitment have made a lasting impact on both the residents he serves and the officers he supports,” the department said.
Devlin has served the Lansdale Borough Police Department with distinction since 1996, when he began his career as a part-time officer, according to the department.
Two years later, he was hired full-time and has since devoted three decades to protecting and serving the community.
Devlin was promoted to sergeant in 2011 and to lieutenant in 2018. He has been a member of the Montgomery County SWAT Central Team since 2000 and currently serves as the team’s Commander.
As lieutenant, Devlin led the department’s successful effort to achieve its first-ever accreditation through the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission in under 10 months, police said.
Devlin also played a key role in the department’s most recent reaccreditation process, which requires a comprehensive PLEAC assessment every three years. In October 2024, the department successfully completed this process and was re-accredited under Devlin’s leadership.
“Chief Devlin has the support of the entire police department, and under his new leadership, the department is poised for an exciting future of service, safety, and community engagement,” the department said in a release.
According to Councilman Andrew Carroll, Devlin's promotion is pending a contract and approval from labor counsel.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this article did not include perspectives from council members who supported Chief Devlin’s appointment, resulting in an unbalanced report. We regret the oversight and apologize to Chief Devlin, council, and our readers. We are committed to providing more complete and fair coverage moving forward.
