Uwchlan stays with Alexander as police chief

UWCHLAN >> Lt. Scott Alexander said he never strayed once from walking the path of a law enforcement officer, and on Monday night, the board of supervisors unanimously voted to promote him to chief of police, a moment he called “the most humbling experience I’ve ever had.”

Alexander fulfills the vacancy left when former Police Chief Joe Pontarelli, retired in July of 2016, and has served as the officer in charge since May 15, 2016, when the transition period officially began.

“I wish you the best of luck,” Pontarelli said to Alexander at the meeting. Pontarelli, along with several of area police chiefs and Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, attended the meeting as well.

Alexander joined the Uwchlan Township Police Department in August, of 2000 as a patrolmen. Prior to serving the Uwchlan community, he served for seven years at the East Brandywine Police Department, where he joined as a patrol-

man in 1993.

Magisterial District Judge Lori Donatelli swore in Alexander in front of his wife Alyssa, and his son Kyle, and a packed several dozen other police chiefs, police officers and friends.

“Tonight, we present to you Chief Alexander,” said board chairman Joseph E. Toner III. Board supervisor and vice-chairman Milton

Bozarth added to Toner’s comments, saying that “tonight, we have the opportunity to make the Uwchlan Police Department even better.”

A Chester County resident since he was six years old, Alexander said he had long contemplated the path he wanted to walk in life, and he ultimately came to conclusion that he wanted to “give back.”

Now that he has officially taken the reigns of the police department, Alexander said he wants to continue moving the department in

a progressive fashion and increase the department’s crime fighting abilities by increasing ties with the community.

“We are here for (the community)” he said. “So many crimes are solved with the help of the public.”

He graduated from Downingtown High School, prior to its split into Downingtown East and Downingtown West, and later studied at Mountain State in West Virginia and Arizona State. He currently holds an associate’s degree in criminal justice, and is

currently working toward his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

An avid sportsman, he said he’s played soccer since he was five years old, and also played lacrosse in high school. But while he is not on any high school teams anymore, one thing has not changed.

“I’m still part of a team,” Alexander said.

To contact Daily Local News staff writer Adam Farence, email afarence@dailylocal.com, or call 610235-2647.

ADAM FARENCE — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Uwchlan Police Chief Scott Alexander’s hand is on the Bible his son Kyle is holding, and his wife Alyssa is standing to his right. Standing across from Alexander, Magisterial District Judge Lori Donatelli administers the oath of office.