Chief Exits Chester Boro PD, Officer In Charge Named

Chief Andre Kedrowitsch has left the building. 

Moving out of the area less than 24 hours after his June 30 retirement, Kedrowitsch has the Chester Borough Police Department firmly fixed in the rear view mirror of his U-Haul. And while the governing body goes through the process of selecting a permanent replacement for Kedrowitsch, Chester Borough Mayor Bob Davis and administrator Valerie Egan have settled on Sgt. Dave Jara as the officer in charge.

“We want to make sure we are on the same page before we take action,” Davis said. 

Both Jara and Sgt. Timothy Carry have formally expressed interest in becoming the next Chester Borough police chief and after Kedrowitsch are the next ranking members of the eight-person department.

Having an officer in charge is just a stop-gap move until a new chief is named and Councilwoman Janet Hoven, who serves on the public safety committee, laid out that timetable. 

After the appointment of the officer in charge, Hoven said the next step in the selection of a chief would be to get previous employment files of the two candidates. Following that, there will be interviews and written questions.

“At some point, hopefully by July 16, there will be oral interviews with the personnel committee,” said Hoven. “There will be essay questions that would be administered by the administrator by July 23.”

The next step would be getting feedback from other police chiefs.

“We’ve spoken with the chief about having some county chiefs come in and come up with their own questions, do a Q&A with them, and give us their feedback,” Hoven said, adding that this step would be done by Aug. 7.

“If all goes as scheduled, we could select a new chief by Aug. 20,” Hoven said. The Mayor and Council is scheduled to have a regular meeting that day.

The mayor and council, in keeping with its decision to keep its options open, had prepared an ordinance amendment that would add the position of police director, a civilian that would help train a new chief or officer in charge.

But the presence of several area police chiefs and some new information prompted the Mayor and Council to table that change at their May 21 meeting.