By MICHAEL HIRSCH

Special to The Press

South Whitehall Police Chief Glen Dorney resigned in April, and Stephen Brown was named interim/acting chief.

Brown was appointed captain of the police department on Feb. 1, 2023.

A 2001 graduate of Parkland High School, he served in the U.S. Navy from July 2001 until 2005, being honorably discharged as a master at arms, second class.

A graduate of the Allentown Police Academy’s 80th class in May of 2020, he graduated magna cum laude from the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s degree in law in society and a minor in criminal justice.

Brown has also served the department as a certified IPMBA bike officer.

Township commissioners launched a search to fill the police chief’s job.

The board approved a contract with The Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association at a cost of $9,000 to help conduct a competitive search process and independent evaluation, according to Township Manager Tom Petrucci.

At the Oct. 2 commissioners meeting a resolution was on the agenda authorizing the township manager to execute a professional service contract with Aspirant Consulting Group LLC for an executive search for a new police chief.

The proposal total is $11,250.

In April, Interim/Acting Chief of Police Stephen Brown said he was, “greatly considering it.”

At the October meeting, Diab Hadid called in during courtesy of the floor and expressed concern about the transparency of the township regarding the use of tax dollars for the search.

He said $9,000 was spent on a company to find a chief of police, but there was no update of the progress or outcome of this search.

Hadid wanted to know why the government has not been more transparent about this issue and is concerned about the potential for further waste of taxpayer money.

President Diane Kelly thanked him for the comment and said the matter would be discussed later.

“We will be addressing this issue and updating the public at that time,” she said.

Later another resident, Nancy Horvat, commented.

“I think we do need to think about this,” she said. “Another $11,000 and change, which sounds like a drop in the bucket, perhaps to what you folks look at, but as an educator, what I look at that’s a lot of money, and we need to be very careful about how we spend it.

‘I’d like you to take it to heart.

“Hopefully you do and decide whether or not this is the best way to proceed.”

Petrucci explained the search was budgeted for, and cost was not an issue.

“The township did save money when former Chief Dorney resigned for the rest of the year for the salary that had been allocated for him,” he said.

Hadid called in again.

He was critical of South Whitehall for its handling of the chief of police search and its approach to the budget.

He said the government is wasting money by not paying the previous chief.

Hadid also said the government is not taking the residents’ concerns seriously and is making decisions without considering their input.

Retired South Whitehall Township Police Officer Jeff Natysyn said he was upset about the decision of commissioners to hire a new police officer instead of promoting Brown who has been serving as the interim police chief for six months.

He said Brown is qualified for the position and that it is unfair to spend more taxpayer money on a new hire.

He mentioned that the community is unaware of the additional cost and Brown has been doing a good job as interim chief.

The board made a motion to adopt the resolution authorizing the execution of professional services for a search for the position of chief of police and the amount of the contract was $11,250.

The motion was approved unanimously.