Freeport, Pa, has no cops after chief quits at end of 1st shift
Freeport hasn’t had a police officer on duty since Nov. 3, when the newly hired police chief quit at the end of his first shift. Retired Plum police Sgt. Matthew Feldmeier, 58, was hired as chief Nov. 1 and was sworn in that night by Mayor James Swartz Jr. He was the only applicant for the $53,500-a-year job.
Swartz said Feldmeier worked his first shift during the day on Nov. 2 and participated in interviews that evening to fill two open positions for police officers. But when the borough secretary arrived at the borough building the following morning, she found the chief’s badge, office keys and a handwritten letter of resignation stating that he was leaving “to pursue other interests,” the mayor said.
Several telephone and text messages seeking comment from Feldmeier were not returned. “I tried to call him, and it went to voicemail,” Swartz said. “Later in the day, I texted him, and he responded that he would call me back in 15 minutes. After about six hours passed, I texted him again to say I never received his call, but I didn’t hear anything back from him.”
Swartz said he called Feldmeier again the following day but it again went to voicemail. “At that point, I was done calling him,” he said.
With no officers left on the force, state police are handling calls in the 1.3-square-mile borough of about 1,700 residents, officials said. There already is an arrangement for state police to respond to calls in Freeport when there were no borough officers on duty. The closest state police station is Troop D in East Franklin, usually referred to as the Kittanning barracks, about 16 miles away.
https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/freeport-has-no-cops-after-chief-quits-at-end-of-1st-shift-state-police-covering-borough/
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