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On July of 1952 the Moore Township Police
Department was formed, after Township residents requested police
protection. The first Police Chief, Harvey Miller, was hired. An
additional officer Emil Focht was hired
two weeks later. The two officers used their own cars to patrol and
were on call 24 hours a day.
The officers operated without radios back then. The Township
residents were given telephone numbers of five locations to call
when emergencies arose. The owners of the designated places posted
yellow flags on their porches when they were called. As the Police
patrolled and saw the flags, they would stop and take the
information. There were stops in Moorestown,
Point Phillips, Klecknersville,
Beersville, and one on Route 248.
Eventually Police calls were handled by
Bethlehem City
and then by Blue Mountain Control center in Wind Gap. The first
Township Police car purchased was a 1955 Chevy.
As the number of calls increased with the Township
population, Sherwood Roberts was hired in 1973 as Miller’s
assistant. In 1979 Sherwood Roberts became Moore Townships second
Police Chief. During Chief Sherwood Roberts’s time as Police Chief,
the department increased staffing to four full time and three part
time officers. This now provided 24-hour 7
days a week Police coverage.
The Police department hired an administrative secretary and
began using its first computer. February of 1992, Sherwood
Roberts retired as Chief.
In January of 1992, Fred
Coberly was named interim Police Chief and in March was named Police
Chief. In September of 2000, Chief Coberly retired.
In October of 2000, a Citizens Committee was
formed to select the new Police Chief. The Citizens Committee and
the PA Association of Chiefs of Police reviewed the applicants and
the new Chief was selected. On August 2001 Chief Joseph
Keglovits was hired as Police Chief.
Since his appointment as Police Chief, Chief
Keglovits has hired three additional full time officers. The
Police Department moved from its small two-room station to its newly
renovated police station. With the departments growth came the
appointment of a Sergeant and Detective position, increased training
of officers in accident investigation, commercial truck inspections,
and DUI detection. In
2006 Chief Keglovits retired from the Moore Twp Police Dept due to
injuries.
In January of 2007, the Moore Township Board of
Supervisors promoted Sergeant Gary West to Chief of Police.
The Moore Township Police
Department serves an ever growing and changing population of approx
10,000 citizens and covers an area of 38 square miles.
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