Freeport has no cops after chief quits at end of 1st shift; state police covering borough | TribLIVE.com

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

The only other police officer on the borough’s roster is Terry Lucas, a part-timer who also works as a police officer at a hospital in Pittsburgh.

But the mayor said Lucas hasn’t worked a shift for the borough in nearly five months because of the demands of his other job.

Swartz said Feldmeier gave him no indication that he was planning to resign.

Source: Freeport has no cops after chief quits at end of 1st shift; state police covering borough | TribLIVE.com

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