Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The Bristol Township Police Department has gone through significant change and upheaval over the last several weeks LevitownNow.com can report.
LevittowNow.com can now confirm some of these changes. Due to injury, Chief of Police James McAndrews has been replaced by Lt. John Godzieba, several Bristol Township officials have confirmed this week.
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McAndrew, as a result of his injury, is now collecting “workers compensation,” one council source said.
Reports first indicated that a sergeant would likely take the helm of the department temporarily while replacement candidates were interviewed.
Police department sources indicated that temporarily assigning the sergeant to the top ranking position would cause a stir of sorts among the rank and file. The rumored inter-departmental changes were discussed between law enforcement throughout the county.
Credit: Friends of Washington Cross Park
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“If you want to piss off the guys on the street that’s how you do it,” one source said in regards to jumping the sergeant over higher ranking members of the department.
Communications with township officials have gone unanswered in an effort to confirm the changes.
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Bristol Township officers when approached about the subject have said “we have been told not to comment.”
Godzieba has been with the department for years and is well-respected, sources say. Aside from being a lawman, he is known to be a Revolutionary War re-enactor and is currently in year two of a three-year term portraying General George Washington during the historic Christmas Day crossing ceremony.
Bristol Township is the second largest of 54 municipalities in Bucks County in the top 15 largest municipalities in the entire state. Its police department, while sources have said the past in understaffed, is still one of the largest in the county.
