Lower Makefield Township will vote to offer its Chief of Police position to the current Yardley Borough, Chief of Police Joseph D. Kelly III, officials confirmed late Monday night.
The offer is expected to be ratified at Wednesday night’s Board of Supervisors meeting with an official announcement pending background checks, officials said.
Kelly was named Yardley’s chief a little more than 10 years ago, according to Yardley officials.
The Yardley chief was the focus of regional media, for “saving” the life of Bucks County Parole officer Christina Viviano at an offender check in August of 2021. On that day Colin Petroziello, who is currently serving a lengthy sentence in state prison, fired shotgun blasts through an apartment door, at the Yardley Common Condominiums striking Kelly in the ear and hand.
Board Chairman Dan Grenier said, we had a number of outstanding candidates to choose from, adding, for him the clinchers for choosing Kelly were community familiarity, police budgeting ideas, and the amount and level of respect he’s earned as the Yardley Borough Chief of Police from officers within the township police department and the community at large.
There were five internal candidates who applied for the position township manager David W. Kratzer, Jr. said pointing to a March 5th date as a likely hiring announcement date.
Officials told Lower Bucks Source last week that a candidate was chosen but did not disclose the name citing notifications of the list of final candidates.
The police chief position opened up late last year when Ken Coluzzi announced he would be retiring after township officials quietly placed a separation agreement between the former chief and Lower Makefield. Coluzzi was given a hero’s goodbye by the township attended by officials from every level of government (local, state, and federal) in January.
Grenier said, before the position was advertised officially, discussions were held with ranking Lower Makefield police officials and internally among board members about the department. These discussions sought input on what to look for in a new hire.
We sought input from our own officers because we wanted to know what they thought we could do better from a policing perspective, Grenier said, all those qualities and practices were discussed and we were luckily able to find that in Kelly.
“He makes people feel safe” the chairman said.
Editor’s Note: Chief Kelly did not immediately respond to an email sent to him early Tuesday morning.
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