Skelton to retire as chief in2023
LIMERICK » Police Chief Brian Skelton has announced his pending retirement.
But everyone has plenty of time to plan his going-away party. Skelton informed the township administration in August that he intends to enter the DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan), an early retirement program available to law enforcement.
That means he will stay with the township for a little less than three more years. His retirement won’t be effective until August 2023, according to Township Manager Dan Kerr.
The only problem is that Skelton’s current contract with the township expires in February.
Township supervisors solved that problem quickly enough at the Oct. 6 meeting.
They unanimously extended his contract until August 2023.
“We’re going to hold on to you as long as we can,” Supervisor Kara Shuler said.
Skelton will earn $145,054 in 2020 and any increases over the next three years are tied to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement enjoyed by the unionized officers.
He receives the same longevity, uniformallowances and other benefits as the other 30 officers, according to Kerr.
After he retires, Skelton is eligible to have half his health insur
ance costs paid for by the township, under the terms of his contract. The benefit applies only to him and not to familymembers, said Kerr.
Like many area departments who have found that
liability too heavy to carry, that particular benefit has been phased out for new hires.
Kerr told the supervisors that Limerick is held out in Montgomery County as an example of one of its premiere departments.
As such, the administration has already begun work on a “succession plan to ensure that the department
remains the jewel of Montgomery County.”
Skelton was named police chief in 2016, succeeding William Albany. Skelton began working for the police department as a patrolman in 1989.
Kerr said the administration will look at continuing the tradition of promoting from within as it prepares to select a new
police chief.
“The police do a phenomenal job representing this community,” said Supervisors Chairman Thomas Neafcy.
As if to reinforce that impression, Tuesday night was also a long-delayed night for police commendations, originally scheduled for May but delayed due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
A total of 10 officers were recognized for excellence in police work over the past two years. Skelton explained he likes to wait until a case has made its way through the courts and been resolved before recognizing the police work that led to it.
The crimes included burglary; capturing a ring of
thieves stealing from cars; sexual assault of minors, rescue of two women being held captive in a basement and successful capture of a suspect wielding a shotgun trying to get police to shoot him.
Also at the meeting, Detective David Bartok was recognized for his 20th year of service to the department.