Upper Macungie Promotes Three Officers

Upper Macungie's year-old police force has a new position: deputy chief.

Lt. Joseph Wilson was promoted to that role Monday night in a ceremony that also found two of his colleagues taking on new roles: Sgt. Peter Nickischer was promoted to lieutenant, and Officer Dathan Schlegel became a sergeant.

Wilson, a former state police lieutenant who commanded the Special Emergency Response Team for eastern Pennsylvania, said it's been an honor of helping develop a new department.

Nickischer and Schlegel are both former members of the Berks-Lehigh Police, which patrolled Upper Macungie before the township established its own force at the beginning of 2013.

The past year has seen the department focus on traffic in the township, Police Chief Edgardo Colon told residents. The end result: a 50 percent drop in motor vehicle deaths, and 41 percent drop in accidents overall.

“As a police chief I couldn’t be more proud" of the work the department has done, he said.

Also Monday: The township supervisors held their annual reorganization meeting and named new board member James Brunnell as chairman. Supervisors will continue to hold regular meetings on the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the township offices.