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Lititz Police receive donated e‑bikes, report crime declines and win reaccreditation; council approves hires
Summary
Council recognized local donations of two e‑bikes (plus a grant-funded third) to the Lititz Police Department, heard the department's 2025 report showing decreased crimes and high clearance rates, learned the department retained 'premier' accreditation, and approved two new officer hires and the release of Officer Joseph Giovano from probation.
The Lititz Borough Council on April 28 accepted community donations of two electric bicycles to the Lititz Police Department and learned the department had been reaccredited at the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission’s top ("premier") tier. Council also approved personnel actions to hire two officers and release one officer from probation following the police chief’s reports.
Chief Han thanked Jason Burke of Lotus Bike Works and a donor identified as Mark for donating two state‑of‑the‑art e‑bikes; a third e‑bike will be acquired through a grant award. Han said the bikes improve officer access in downtown, parks and trails, increase visibility and community engagement, and support officer health and wellness. Jason Burke and Mark noted pride in supporting community policing and welcomed a new downtown bike shop opening at the end of May.
On personnel, Chief Han recommended Officer Joseph Giovano be released from a 12‑month probationary field training program after meeting benchmarks; council moved and approved that recommendation. Separately, the personnel and benefits subcommittee recommended hiring Lewis Castillo (start June 1, 2026) and Adam Webb (start August 1, 2026) as full‑time Lititz police officers to replace retiring officers; council approved both hires.
The chief presented a condensed version of the department’s 30‑page 2025 annual report (full report available at litpd.org). Key statistics highlighted: about 7,200 dispatched calls for service in 2025 (roughly 20 per day); total reported crimes in Lititz were about 175 for 2025 with a long‑term downward trend since 2009; the department’s clearance rate was roughly 85% (higher than county and state averages cited by the chief); and 147 traffic crashes in 2025 with spatial clusters downtown and at several corridors. The chief also noted an estimated 17,000 official police–citizen contacts in 2025, with two incidents requiring application of physical force.
Separately, the department reported a successful reaccreditation assessment in January and unanimous commission action to renew premier accreditation—the commission’s top tier, which the chief said is held by roughly 4% of Commonwealth agencies. The chief credited staff, community support and leadership for the designation.
He also presented comparative overtime metrics for Q1 2026 showing an 80% reduction versus Q1 2024 and a 73% reduction versus Q1 2025, with about 44% of overtime costs recovered through grants and inter‑agency billing; he attributed savings to staffing stabilization, scheduling optimization and targeted grant pursuit.
What the council did: council accepted donor recognition for the e‑bikes, approved Officer Giovano’s release from probation, and voted to hire Lewis Castillo and Adam Webb as full‑time officers. The borough web site and the department’s social media carry the full 2025 report and contact details for follow‑up.
