Police Chief has his First Day in Palmer Township

Piles of files sit on the desk of new Palmer Township .

Monday – Palmer's first day on the job running the 34-member police force. He spent the day reviewing the files to see what may be keepers and which ones may be headed to the garbage bin.

"I'm still going through files," Palmer said in his spacious office, which is surrounded by memorabilia from Penn State University and pictures of his family. "I'm throwing out older files and bringing in my files."

Palmer, the for 13 years, was sworn in last Tuesday night, taking over as the top law enforcement officer in the township he has lived in for 23 years. He takes over for , who retired after 41 years on the force.

Since his arrival at 8 a.m., Palmer has sat behind his desk, reviewing files, attending a meeting or two, greeting Board of Supervisors Chairman David Colver and preparing for his first supervisors meeting Monday night.

"I've been doing a lot of paperwork, all the necessities," he said. "I'm not going to have much to report at the meeting, though."

Despite starting a new job, Palmer is comfortable in his surroundings.

"I know the town pretty well. I've lived in the Easton area all my life," he said. "This feels like home. I'm not walking in blind. It's a good force. We have good people, good officers and a great foundation for accreditation."

That's one of Palmer's top priorities for the police department.

Palmer helped get Easton's department accreditation from the state, "with two men working two-and-a-half years on it."

His plans are for Palmer to get accreditation in July 2014, around the time the state Police Chiefs Association holds its annual banquet.

Palmer said he also plans on making some internal changes.

"Sometimes it's difficult stepping in because people have different management styles. Everyone does things their own way," Palmer said, adding that one area he will change is how files are managed.

Although he isn't overseeing a city like Easton anymore, Palmer said Palmer Township has plenty of its own issues.

"This isn't a sleepy town anymore," he said. "We have a lot of retail theft and traffic issues. No township is immune to any and all crime."