Palmer Police Chief Makes Strides

Palmer Township Police Chief 's days are a blur of activity.

He's wrapping up his fourth month on the job since leaving as chief of Easton's Police Department and believes he's making progress.

"It's good, a lot of fun," Palmer said during an interview last week. "It's high speed. We have a lot of irons in the fire."

Palmer will start working with township officials in August on a new budget for his department.

And in his short tenure, he's worked on getting his department accredited, purchasing an animal chip reader, clearing space for an evidence room, adding as a crime-fighting tool and putting his department on .

The chief is still working on . One that he's recently completed is a K-9 policy for the department.

Some training will be involved for officers in September, he said. Palmer added that a police dog is retiring after a decade and that the department hopes to add a third dog.

Meanwhile, he's awaiting word from township officials on how to proceed with the .

"I've submitted scenarios," Palmer said. "Once I get some guidance, we'll start planning for our 34-36 police officers."

One new worry for the chief is how his department will handle what development takes place when the Route 33 interchange arrives, which is expected in December 2013.

The northern tip of the township consists of cornfields, but township officials have approved development for light industrial, commercial and retail.

"That's a big worry," Palmer said. "We'll have to look at alternatives. We have 16 square miles of the township to patrol."