Randy Glick retires as Derry police chief; borough seeks talks for school policing contract

Derry Borough is searching for a new police chief after the town council this week accepted Randy Glick’s retirement resignation.

The borough also is entering negotiations with officials at Derry Area School District in an attempt to reach a new agreement for the police to provide coverage at the school campus just outside of town. The current agreement expires at the end of this month.

Derry officials have not confirmed a report that Glick was injured in an incident Aug. 25, 2023, that resulted in the K-9 police dog he was the handler of being euthanized.

Derry Council has since disbanded the borough’s K-9 program and, early this year, approved a two-year moratorium on any potential revival of the program.

Doug Sam has served as the borough’s acting police chief since Aug. 28, 2023, with Glick taking an extended medical leave.

Glick was a member of the department for more than two decades and began serving as Derry’s police chief in September 2004. His retirement was retroactive to Nov. 19.

Borough officials said Glick didn’t cite a reason for his decision to retire.

“It was just his time,” Mayor Grant Nicely said.

Glick could not be reached for comment.

Having met the minimum of 20 years of employment, the chief’s pension benefit by contract will be based on 50% of his monthly compensation, determined by his last three years of service. The chief’s salary was budgeted at a little more than $54,000 in 2022, increasing to $56,225 under the current year’s budget.

K-9 Smoke was injured in Glick’s backyard, when the dog confronted one person aggressively, bit another and got into a fight with a family dog, borough solicitor Lee Demosky has stated.

Glick ultimately used a Taser on the family dog to stop the fight, Demosky said. Three days later, a veterinarian’s examination revealed serious injuries to the police dog. Demosky said officials discussed surgery but were told by the vet euthanizing was the “most humane” option.

Some area residents have been critical of the way Smoke was treated while serving the borough.

Following its investigation, the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office announced that the evidence did not support a criminal charge in Smoke’s death.

Nicely has said the incident was an accident and no one was at fault.

The borough police force has been short-handed, with three part-time officers assisting Sam, Nicely said. The mayor said he is preparing to interview officer candidates and would like to have two full-timers on the roster, assisting whoever is selected as the new chief.

“We’ve done a lot of improvements over the past year,” he said. “We’ve grown not in size but in capabilities. My goal is to get the department back up to full steam and be as progressive and good as we can be.”

He said Derry police field about 100 calls per month.

Council President Barbara Phillips said the borough purchased enough body cameras for four officers and is looking to install license plate readers in two of its three police vehicles — supported by a five-year service subscription.

She said the borough is hoping to get funding assistance through grants.

Phillips said the borough police department is strained for funding, leading council members to consider whether it might become part of a regional force, an idea that is in its infancy.

She said matching the borough’s policing needs with funding is “a hard balancing act. Wages go up every year, and officers are harder to find.

“We’ve served as a training ground for officers who come here and then move on. We can’t compete in price range with our surrounding neighbors.”

Derry’s 2025 general fund budget of $949,388 will hold the line at 29 mills for the local real estate tax.

The budget calls for spending $266,164 on public safety, including $228,126 on police salaries. Those figures are up from respective amounts of $251,239 and $214,689 that were budgeted for 2024.

School district patrols

Phillips, Nicely and Sam will serve along with council members Nathan Bundy and Sara Cowan on a committee expected to negotiate with Derry Area officials on a proposed agreement for police services to the school district.

The school board and borough council each held off considering a new agreement at their respective December meetings.

According to officials, the district has annually paid the borough to provide police coverage at the beginning and end of the school day and to enhance security at some events. Payment to the borough has risen from $13,500 in 2021 to $16,800 this year, but Phillips said that’s no longer enough to compensate for Derry’s investment of police resources.

She pointed out Derry pays more than $40,000 per year for a police officer who spends a substantial amount of time on the school campus.

“Our (borough) taxpayers are taking the burden of that,” she said.

Phillips, Bundy and Sam asked the school board to instead consider taking on a member of the borough force as a full-time school resource officer, who could employ policing powers on the school campus.

Bundy expressed hope the district could make the switch to paying one or more resource officers without exceeding its safety and security budget.

“Let’s see how much we can do for you,” Bundy said.

Derry Area employs two armed security guards — one at Grandview Elementary and one at the neighboring high school-middle school campus — although they don’t have the power to make an arrest.

District business administrator Scott Chappell said the largest part of Derry Area’s $210,000 security budget is going toward costs for the two guards.

He said a recent $134,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency has been allocated toward mental health and therapeutic supports for students.