Message from the
Deputy Chief:
Welcome to the
Swatara Township Police Department on the worldwide
web. I want to personally thank you for visiting us
and I hope you find our site both useful and
informative.
Since my last
message you will see that our web site has added
some important additions in an effort to keep pace
with the changes in our Department and in our
community. All of these efforts are for the
singular purpose of keeping you informed of the law
enforcement services we provide, important news
events that effect you and to enlist each of you to
help us fight crime and keep our community safe.
Below are some highlights of changes and updates to
our site and some departmental news.
In an effort to keep
citizens better informed we have begun posting the
minutes from our Crime Watch Meetings. We are doing
this as a result of a suggestion we received from
one of our citizens who was not able to attend a
meeting. In this way all our citizens can stay
better informed about the topics we present at these
critical meetings even if you can’t attend. This is
a good example of community input being put into
practice by our Department!
In addition,
applicants for the position of Police officer can
now download a complete application booklet from our
web site, which has increased the ease of candidates
to apply for a position, and greatly enhanced our
recruiting efforts. I’d like to personally
recognize Corporal Kevin Gallick for his development
of this booklet and the building and maintenance of
this web site.
In other news, three
members of our police department received critical
training on the investigation of missing and
abducted children. These members are part of the
newly formed Dauphin County Child Abduction Response
Effort Team. This team is comprised of law
enforcement officers from the local, state, and
federal level to respond to and investigate cases of
missing or abducted children.
The Board of
Commissioners of Swatara Township recently approved
the Police Budget for 2008 and we are pleased to
announce that we will hiring three additional police
officers in 2008 to keep pace with the rising
demands for police service. Our goal is to have
them hired and in the Police Academy by July 2008.
We are also pleased
to announce some key personnel changes in our
Department.
Corporal Thomas R.
Stauffer was recently to the rank of Sergeant.
After extensive testing throughout the fall of 2007,
Sergeant Stauffer was selected for promotion and
began his new duties on January 1, 2008. Sergeant
Stauffer will remain in command of A Platoon, in the
Uniformed Patrol Division. In addition, I am
pleased to announce that the Chief of Police
selected Patrol Officer Heather Schlehr and assigned
her as a Detective to the Criminal Investigative
Division in mid December of 2007. Detective
Schlehr’s assignment was much needed as our Criminal
Investigation Division has seen a marked increase in
investigations referred to them in the past two
years. Congratulations, Sergeant Stauffer and
Detective Schlehr.
In addition, as of
February 1, 2008 Corporal Kevin Gallick will be
transferred from his position as commander of the
Community Service Division and will assume command
of C Platoon in the Uniformed Patrol Division until
a new Sergeant can be promoted. Conversely,
Sergeant Brian Zimmerman will be transferred from
command of C Platoon to assume command of the
Community Service Division.
Lastly, our Police
Department is continuing its quest to attain
accreditation through the Pennsylvania Law
Enforcement Accreditation Commission. We are
continuing to re-write and update our policies and
procedures to meet this goal. We anticipate a mock
assessment to check for compliance sometime in the
Spring/Summer of 2008.
If you have
questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to
contact me or any member of our Department. We
stand ready to assist you.
Yours in Service,
Deputy Chief of
Police
Jason D. Umberger
