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Upper Darby swears in two new police officers as officials stress accreditation and support
Summary
Mayor Ed Brown and township leaders presided at a swearing-in ceremony for Patrick Dolan and Michael Warren, during which officials highlighted the department's accreditation and urged family and community support for officer well-being.
Mayor Ed Brown presided over a swearing-in ceremony in Upper Darby on the township stage, where two new officers, Patrick Dolan and Michael Warren, took the oath to serve in the Upper Darby Police Department. Mayor Ed Brown praised the recruits and said hiring additional officers strengthens community safety.
Superintendent Bernhardt, who led the ceremony, thanked Mayor Brown and Chief Administrative Officer Crandall Jones for their support and introduced members of the department’s command staff, including Captain Steve Oreskovich, Administrative Captain Dan Lanney, Detective Captain Sean Kenny, and patrol Captain Mike Williams, along with lieutenants Oliveri, Gray and Scott and other supervisors. "We are a team, and it is a team. We win together or we lose together," Bernhardt said, urging the department and families to support the new officers.
Bernhardt emphasized officer well-being and the department’s standards: he noted that Upper Darby is an accredited police department and recently completed the reaccreditation process, which he said requires consistent documentation and procedures over a three-year period. "That accreditation holds us to the highest standards," Bernhardt said.
Brief biographies were read for the two officers before the oath. The biography for Michael noted he is a Clifton Heights native, a 2020 graduate of Upper Darby High School, volunteered with the Clifton Heights fire department beginning in 2016 and enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 2019, where he serves as a sergeant. The biography for Patrick Dolan described him as a Delaware County native and an eight-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served as a combat engineer and later worked in public-safety roles.
A ceremony official administered the oath; each officer stated his name on the record before repeating the pledge to "well and truly perform the duties of a police officer" and to uphold the laws of the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the ordinances of Upper Darby Township. After the oath, officials offered congratulations and took photographs.
The ceremony closed with departmental recognition and a reminder from Bernhardt to the new officers and their families that the department will provide support as they begin their service.
