Credit: Ewing Police
Bristol Township is getting a police chief … again.
The township is rumored to be returning a chief position after not replacing Chief James McAndrews after he retired in 2014 after being on medical leave for several months. The township council voted to create the $115,000 per year at-will public safety director position and hired former Ewing, New Jersey, police Chief Robert A. Coulton.
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Coulton, according to information from sources who quoted police officials and township leadership, is said to be taking Pennsylvania certification tests and could become the township’s latest chief before the end of summer.
Coulton, who served with Ewing for 30 years before retiring, is respected in the department and came to Bristol Township with a wealth of policing experience. During his tenure, he has already worked with command staff and township administration to gain departmental accreditation.
Township Manager Bill McCauley, Council President Craig Bowen and Coulton did not respond to a request for comment Friday. No information on the compensation package and reasoning for the reinstatement of the chief position was available.
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Since 2014, the Bristol Township Police Benevolent Association (PBA) has questioned the legality of Bristol Township doing away with the police chief position to have an unsworn public safety director lead the 60 officers. Currently, the highest ranking sworn officials are Lt. John Godzieba, Lt. Ralph Johnson and Lt. Terry Hughes.
Last year, the PBA sued the township over the creation of the public safety director position and elimination of the chief of police role. The lawsuit said the officers “will bear the ultimate risk of the township’s transparent attempts to evade the statutory civil service requirements of the first class township code and expose its new public safety director to undue political influence and manipulation.” The suit stated the First-Class Township Code, which governs Bristol Township, states the township either has to have a sworn police chief or superintendent.
In the past, township officials have brushed off the claim from PBA and said they were well within their rights to have a public safety director. Council members last year pointed to Bensalem, which has a public safety director, as an example to show the creation of the position was legal. However, Bensalem is governed under the Second-Class Township Code which is not the same at the code that Bristol Township uses.
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Detective Tim Fuhrmann, who is president of the PBA, said the lawsuit is still making its way through court and added he believes the lawsuit is why the township is “fast tracking” returning to a chief of police position.
The change in oversight for the police department was not publicly mentioned at the last council meeting.
In addition to the public safety director position, the council voted in December to create a deputy public safety director position. The position has not yet been filled and township officials have remained mum on it.
