Lansdale's Chief Michael Trail Named New Norristown Police Chief

NORRISTOWN, PA — In a surprise move, Norristown has selected current Lansdale chief of police Michael Trail to take over the municipality's police department, bringing to an end a months-long search for a new chief.

The municipality had narrowed the field down to three finalists: Trail, SWAT commander and Norristown police Captain Richard Clowser, and Atlantic City police captain Mark Benjamin. Both Closer and Benjamin are natives of Norristown.

"Chief Trail’s previous experience as a police chief includes work that will be important here in Norristown, including building trust with the community, partnering with outside agencies to address calls related to mental health and housing needs, and strengthening recruitment,” Norristown Council President Rebecca Smith said in a statement. “We welcome him to Norristown and look forward to seeing his experience and expertise guide his leadership in our community."

Trail will be sworn in on Aug. 19 by municipal council.

The council hopes that Trail will usher in a period of relative stability to the police chief role after significant turnover the last several years.

Norristown police Lieutenant James Angelucci has served as interim chief for the past several months. Last fall, former chief Jacqueline Bailey-Davis was put on administrative leave for reasons that were never disclosed. She ultimately resigned months later, less than a year after she was first installed.

Bailey-Davis's departure followed nearly a year of Captain Michael Bishop holding the role as active chief, and another one year tenure of former Chief Derrick Wood, who retired to care for his mother. Altogether, it marks four chiefs in four years.

Trail started his career as a cop in Morrisville in Bucks County before working with the Baltimore Police Department. He's been in Lansdale since 2002, starting as a patrol office before being named chief in 2018.

Norristown officials cited Trail's experience and his work with partner agencies around Montgomery County in their decision, specifically point to his work leading the Montgomery County Major Incident Response Team.

Trail, Clowser, and Benjamin were all interviewed extensively separately and together, including in various public forums where they answered questions from local residents.

In a Patch poll earlier in the summer, 82 percent of respondents said that Norristown had handled the recent police transitions poorly, including Bailey-Davis's mysterious departure.

Trail will lead a Norristown department that has about 60 officers and dozens of other professional staff, along with a 2025 budget of $16.3 million.

Lansdale, meanwhile, will begin the search for its own new chief.