Veteran officer tapped to lead Bellefonte’s police force after chief’s sudden resignation
A detective with more than 18 years of police experience was appointed Wednesday as the interim chief of the Bellefonte Police Department, one of the first steps in the potentially lengthy and costly process of rebuilding the force.
Detective Bill Witmer was appointed to the top spot in the police department after longtime Chief Shawn Weaver suddenly resigned Monday.
Mayor Gene “Buddy” Johnson was notified Wednesday of the appointment by Borough Council President Kent Bernier, he wrote in an email sent Thursday to the Centre Daily Times. Johnson wrote he supports Witmer and has “great confidence in his leadership abilities.”
Witmer was hired in November 2016, making him one of the department’s newest officers. A message left for him Thursday was not immediately returned.
The Lock Haven University alumnus’ annual salary as a detective topped more than $84,000. It has not been decided if his pay will be modified, borough Manger Ralph Stewart wrote in an email to the CDT.
Witmer is at least temporarily in charge of a department in turmoil. Three of his fellow officers have resigned since February, with at least one facing termination if he did not voluntarily leave.
Officer Jason Brower was slated to be potentially fired during a borough council meeting in March, but resigned hours beforehand. Officer Matthew Pollock resigned in February.
Borough leaders have remained mum on the reasons for the officers’ departures, and it was not addressed during the most recent borough council meeting. When asked last week if Brower’s resignation stemmed from something criminal in nature, Weaver said it did not.
Brower’s redacted resignation letter — obtained by the CDT through a Right-to-Know request — did not offer much insight either. He wrote that he would make arrangements to obtain any of his personal items and work with the department to “resolve any outstanding administrative concerns.”
The borough said it redacted some of his letter because it related to a “non-criminal investigation” and constituted information regarding “discipline, demotion or discharge contained in a personnel file.” He’d been with the department since 2008.
Pollock, in his resignation letter, wrote “life events have caused me to go a different route of employment.” He’d been with the department since 2017.
“I appreciate the opportunities for growth and development you have provided during my tenure. Thank you for your guidance and support,” Pollock wrote in his letter to Weaver and Johnson. “I wish you and the Department the very best going forward. Be safe!”
Part of a Right-to-Know request for records related to Pollock’s resignation, however, was denied in part due to records that relate to a criminal investigation. The nature and extent of that investigation is not known.
When asked last week if his office is investigating any allegations made against either officer, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna deferred to state police at Rockview. A message left Friday with a department spokesman has not been returned.
“We won’t comment on matters that are under investigation unless there is a public issue that needs to be addressed,” Cantorna wrote Friday in a text to the CDT.
The resignations of Pollock, Brower and Weaver put strain on a department that began the year with 10 full-time officers. With longtime borough police officer Robert Igoe retiring from the department in January, 40% of the department has left the force since the New Year.
“The recent past months have been very trying for not only the Department as a whole, it has put a strain on the officers who are currently working,” Weaver wrote in a statement shared with the CDT.
Despite the exodus, it does not appear the borough’s leaders are giving serious consideration to disbanding its police department in favor of state police coverage, which sometimes happens in smaller municipalities across the commonwealth.
Bernier, a former state trooper, told the CDT last week that the borough is in the process of testing and hiring additional police officers.