Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — The city announced Thursday it is now accepting applications for police chief through May 8.
Current Police Chief Marcella Lendacky plans to retire June 3.
She notified the mayor of her intent to retire just as a scathing report reviewing the police force was completed earlier this month.
The report by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association cast serious doubt on Lendacky’s qualifications to lead the department, though it did not call for her to step down.
In the aftermath of the review and Lendacky’s retirement notice, Mayor Tony George said the city could appoint a civilian public safety director to lead the force instead of a chief.
It’s unclear if that could still happen.
A press release from the city seeks applicants who “will be a community-focused agent, capable of working in a fast-paced and emergency environment and experienced in building and maintaining broad coalitions of support.”
That last qualification is of particular note considering the well-documented tension between Lendacky and the police union that represents rank-and-file officers. That rancor eventually led city council to hire the Chiefs of Police Association in an effort to find a better way forward.
Qualified applicants should forward a cover letter and resume to:
City of Wilkes-Barre
Attn: City Administrator
40 E. Market St.
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711
Resumes can also be emailed to City Administrator Ted Wampole at [email protected]
For more on the job: https://www.wilkes-barre.city/human-resources/pages/employment-opportunities