New Details on Police Chief's Suspension

Tredyffrin Township Supervisors have released a statement about the incident that led to the the four day suspension of Police Chief Andrew Chambers without pay.

Township Manager Mimi Gleason tells TE Patch the Supervisors voted on the suspension in a closed executive session on Tuesday, December 13. Chambers, a highly regarded 30 year veteran of the force, was suspended the next day, Wednesday December 14.

Township Solicitor Vince Donohue released this statement on behalf of the Board of Supervisors who made the decision to sanction Chambers with the suspension:

PUBLIC STATEMENT OF THE TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

On November 23, during Emergency Vehicle Operator Course (“EVOC”) training in Bridgeport Borough for several of the Township’s police officers, Tredyffrin Township Police Superintendent Andrew Chambers permitted his 16 year old son, who has a learner’s permit, to drive a Township police vehicle on the training course. The training course is an area of highway that is closed to public traffic and used regularly for such training. Upon notification of the incident by Superintendent Chambers, the Board conducted an investigation into the facts surrounding the event.

While driving the vehicle and navigating the training course, Superintendent Chambers’ son lost control of the vehicle, which slid off the road and collided with a small tree, causing minor damage to the front push bumper. During the tow truck’s extraction of the vehicle from the brush and muddy ground, one of the tires became flattened. Except for a small cut sustained by the trainer in the car with the youth at the time of the collision, no one sustained injuries as a result of the incident.

Superintendent Chambers admitted fault, and has paid for the costs of towing the car, for the replacement part, and has reimbursed the Township for the value of the Township mechanic’s time spent repairing the vehicle. The vehicle, which has 130,000 miles on it, is back in service.

The Township is disappointed with Superintendent Chambers’ uncharacteristic lapse in judgment and is glad no one was seriously injured. Superintendent Chambers has fully and openly admitted the facts and very much regrets his conduct.

The matter has been addressed by the Board with the imposition of a four day suspension without pay and now considers the matter resolved.

Superintendent Chambers has had an exemplary, unblemished record in his 30 years of service to the residents of Tredyffrin Township and the Supervisors continue to have full confidence in his ability to perform his duties.

According to a report in the Chester County Daily Local, the newspaper was alerted to the incident in an anonymous letters from someone who did not give a name out of fear of retalitaion. The Daily Local report also raises questions about whether or not a police report needed to be filed on the incident because the vehcile needed to be towed.

TE Patch will continue to follow this story.