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Sunbury swears in new police chief amid debate over retirement-party reimbursements
Summary
Sergeant Slack was sworn in as Sunbury’s new police chief after the council approved a contract; council members debated whether taxpayer funds should have reimbursed costs for the outgoing chief’s retirement celebration, with some offering to personally cover expenses and others calling for clearer procedures.
Sunbury — The City of Sunbury swore in Sergeant Slack as its new police chief at the council meeting, after the city moved to approve a contract and administered the oath of office.
The council debated the use of city funds to reimburse costs associated with a retirement celebration for the previous chief. Councilmember Savage raised concern that taxpayer money had been used to pay for the event and noted that several elected officials and key staff said they were not invited. Savage said reimbursements and the decision to use those line items should have been discussed publicly. The presiding officer and other council members responded that the funds used were the same pool that paid for the 2024 Christmas party and that some in the department and organizations had volunteered to cover or refund the cost. One speaker said the SPOA would refund its share and at least one resident offered to personally pay the expense.
The meeting record also shows the police department reported its 2025 activity totals during the meeting: 5,152 incidents, 218 field contacts, 1,847 traffic stops (468 warnings and 305 citations), 1,987 parking citations and 9,279 station calls. The police representative told council there are two outstanding internal investigations, one of which may be referred to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.
City staff moved to approve a contract for the newly appointed chief and the council recorded affirmative responses from several members; the oath and congratulations followed. "Congratulations, chief," a council speaker said after the swearing-in.
The meeting concluded without a policy change on reimbursements; several participants urged clearer procedures and transparency going forward. The council did not take further formal action on the retirement reimbursements during the meeting.
