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West Easton Council took a major step toward the formation of a part-time police department by hiring a retired State Trooper as a consultant.

Mr. Robert Mahady was a State Trooper for 25 years, achieving the rank of Sergeant before retiring last year. Mahady worked from the Belfast Barracks and is familiar with West Easton. He currently resides locally in Nazareth.

Mahady was interviewed by the Personnel Committee, consisting of myself, Henry Nodoline and Dan Depaul. Mayor Gross also participated in the interview process.

The Personnel Committee made its recommendation to the full Council that Mr. Mahady was the best candidate for the position of Police Chief. Though the Mayor was unable to attend last night’s Council meeting, he sent a message that he supported the hiring of Mahady, “100 percent.”

The Council voted 6-0 (T. Nodoline absent) to hire Mahady as a “consultant” rather than Chief of Police because the borough still needs an ORI number for any police department to have the authority to issue citations and act as a law enforcement agency.

Mr. Mahady duties during the interim, as a consultant, will be to prepare SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures), policies of the department, recommendation of supplies, and other preparatory duties.

He will also be working with the Safety Committee to discuss equipment requirements that will be needed for a part-time police department to function efficiently and safely.

The CoP position will be held open, awaiting the issuance of an ORI number for the borough and another vote by Council to approve changing his status from Consultant, to Chief of Police.

For the knowledge of residents, Mr. Mahady will have no enforcement authority for the borough until he is sworn in as Chief of Police for West Easton.