Lansdale: A police recruitment process was initiated, another was rejected

The police are looking for another potential candidate.

News is mixed about the Lansdale Borough Police Department’s plans to reach full staffing in 2025.

Police Chief Mike Trail last week provided an update on two new hires the city approved in September — one of which may have to wait.

“Following the business meeting, we made conditional offers of employment. On Thursday morning, I received an email from one of the candidates withdrawing from the process,” Trail said.

“So we hired one. They start the academy on Monday,” he said.

In 2023, the department hired four new officers following lengthy discussions in 2022 to increase the department’s staffing levels to keep pace with the city’s population growth and to help address quality of life issues such as parking and traffic issues. Those four new hires in 2023 brought the department to a current high of 29 officers, the chief told the Public Safety Committee in early September, and in the spring the council approved an updated candidate as the final candidate for new hires, as up to three officers within This time could be eliminated in the next few months.

During the City Council action meeting on Sept. 18, this group voted unanimously to make conditional offers of employment to two candidates following a board meeting immediately before the meeting. Since then, Trail told the Public Safety Committee on Oct. 2 that one of those offers has been rejected and the other is nearing formal training.

“They will be in the (police) academy until March – with on-site training, we expect to see them on the streets probably in June 2025,” he said.

To fill the second expected vacancy, the chief said he is seeking permission to revisit the county Civil Service Commission to find one or two more candidates from its list of eligible applicants that has already been vetted.

“We create an eligibility list of people who could be certified for employment, and then we create a hiring list. Since we hired from the list, we need to go back and say, ‘We hired, we want to hire again. “We need to move some names from those eligible to the certified list,” Trail said.

This could be completed in the next few weeks and the chief is working with the Civil Service Commission’s attorney to determine whether the second hire could be made by the council in October or would have to wait until November, likely the latter.

New Lansdale Police Officer Karly Harney, center right, accepts her oath from Mayor Garry Herbert during the July 19, 2023 council meeting. (Photo courtesy of Lansdale Police Department)

“So does this mean the likely next member of staff would miss the deadline to attend the academy?” asked committee chair Meg Currie Teoh.

Trail said that depends on the training and background of the next employee: If they have already completed police academy training, they can start earlier, and some police academies offer new courses that start in January. A candidate on that schedule would likely graduate in the summer of 2025 and then complete about 16 weeks of field training, meaning they would be on patrol in the city toward the end of next year.

“It takes a long time to get people out on the streets,” Trail said. “But we have one, and it’s good.”

Another police-related point: Mayor Garry Herbert announced this in September “Mayor Thoughts” column that police are launching a “Handle with Care” registry where residents can submit information about any special assistance or needs they may need from first responders in an emergency. Several residents have already signed up for the registry, Herbert said Wednesday, and those interested can contact the department or sign up using a QR code posted on its Facebook page.

“This is just another part of us formalizing the process. We are an accredited department so keeping things in an accredited manner is important and ensuring we are professional in our approach is always a top priority,” Herbert said.

The Lansdale County Council will next meet on October 16th at 7:00 p.m. and the Public Safety Committee will next meet on November 6th at 6:30 p.m., both at the county municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information, visit www.Lansdale.org.

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