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West Chester public-safety reports: fire, police and EMS recap record activity and staffing plans
Summary
At its Feb. 10 meeting, the West Chester Public Safety Committee heard year-end reports: fire calls and training were up in 2025, police reported staffing vacancies with hiring underway, and Good Fellowship Ambulance recorded record call volume and expanded behavioral-health transports.
At the Feb. 10 Public Safety Committee meeting, department leaders reported 2025 year-end data and outlined plans for staffing and equipment.
Justin McClure, assistant fire chief, said the Westchester Fire Department set another record in 2025 with about 1,775 calls for service and more than 12,000 training hours. He told the committee the Westchester Volunteer Firemen's Relief Association contributed roughly $107,000 toward volunteer training and that the borough secured a local-share grant of about $880,000 to purchase a new fire engine scheduled for delivery in 2028.
Chief Josh Lee said the police department had two retirements in 2025 and currently has 42 officers of an authorized 45. The department has received more than 75 applications in its recruiting campaign and aims to hire new officers in May or June. Lee also described an active civil-service promotion process for sergeant and corporal positions. He reported low numbers for major violent crimes but said calls classified as 'public drunkenness' are relatively high and that December saw 28 noise complaints with eight citations; January had 25 complaints and one citation, with many complaints driven by snow-removal activity.
Justin Robbins of Good Fellowship Ambulance reported a record-setting 8,994 calls in 2025, with 2,268 responses inside the borough (about 25%). He highlighted 408 responses by a dedicated 'safe car' used to transport behavioral-health patients who do not require an ambulance and noted eight direct transports to Haven Behavioral Hospital — the agency's first direct transports to a behavioral facility in Chester County.
Committee chair Brian Travis outlined priorities for 2026, including revising the truck-traffic ordinance to clarify definitions and enforceability, addressing an EMS funding gap to avoid repeated deferral of capital purchases, and continuing neighborhood quality-of-life work (noise enforcement, illegal parking, vandalism). The committee approved routine items including special-event permits and moved several items to work sessions for further staff-level refinement.
Next steps: staff will continue recruitment and promotions for police staffing; fire and EMS leaders expect the behavioral-health transport program to grow in 2026; the committee will work on ordinance language and sustainable EMS funding options throughout the year.
