Richland Township has a new chief of police.
The Richland Township Board of Supervisors unanimously promoted Capt. Richard Pollino Monday to serve as chief of the township’s 22-person full time police department effective Jan. 1.
Pollino succeeds Chief Michael Burgan, who is retiring at the end of December. Burgan spent 38 years serving the department, the past 12 years as chief.
“I know the department is in good hands,” Burgan said to the supervisors. “I can leave now, knowing the department will give the community high- quality service. I wanted to leave the department better.
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“That’s a legacy you always want to leave.”
More than a dozen Richland Township Police officers and several members of the public showed support for Pollino by attending the supervisors’ meeting Monday at the township municipal building, 322 Schoolhouse Drive.
“Soon-to-be Chief Pollino has done one heck of a job, obviously, by virtue of people here in attendance,” Supervisors’ Chairman Robert Heffelfinger Jr. said. “I’ve worked with him on a professional level, as past fire chief for the township. He certainly is well-deserving of the promotion. And it goes without saying that our current chief is phenomenal. We will miss him.”
Heffelfinger said the township “is blessed to have one of the best police forces in Pennsylvania.”
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Pollino is set to be the fifth chief of police in the history of the department, established in 1958, Burgan said.
“That speaks a lot,” he said.
Burgan thanked the supervisors for their support throughout his career. He started as a patrolman in 1986, was promoted through the ranks and became chief in 2012.
Through his career, Burgan has worked in nearly every aspect of policing – patrol, investigations, drug task force and the Special Emergency Response Team.
After the meeting, a young officer, Jared Shank, commended Burgan on his retirement and Pollino on his promotion.
“I got to experience Chief Burgan’s leadership, saw how a department should be run,” Shank said. “We work for this agency with a lot of good men, and Burgan is handing off the torch to a great man who has achieved a lot of great success in his career. To put it simply, (Pollino) is a cop’s cop. A lot of people in the department and the community look up to him. I feel I speak for the department when I say we are all very excited for this new chapter and to police under Chief Pollino.”
Russ O’Reilly is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @RussellOReilly.
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