LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster Bureau of Police Chief John T. Bey has resigned his position, city officials announced Thursday in a press release.
Mayor Danene Sorace appointed Captain Richard Mendez as Acting Chief, with the intention of bringing a recommendation to City Council for permanent appointment to lead the city's police department, the press release states.
Bey served as chief of police for the last 18 months, and is credited for "rebuilding trust between the community and police," the city's announcement said.
"I have determined that after 25 years of service to the Pennsylvania State Police plus my subsequent service with the US Air Force Reserves, Pennsylvania National Guard, and the City of Lancaster, I am ready to take a step back and celebrate those accomplishments," Bey said in the announcement.
Sorace appointed Bey, the former chief of the Middletown Borough Police Department, as interim chief of the Lancaster Bureau of Police in October 2020, following the retirement of Jarrad Berkihiser.
At the time, Sorace said she had doubts that Berkihiser shared her vision for the direction of the department following a summer of national and local protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The city's announcement credited Bey for building external relationships and expanding community engagement efforts, and leading numerous change efforts in line with 21st century policing.
Those efforts included the reorganization of community engagement efforts, maintaining the Community Police Working Group, reinstituting bike patrols, and re-opening the Cadet program and the police recruitment process with a goal of increasing the number of city residents, persons of color and women, the city said.
Bey hired the Bureau’s first civilian Communications Manager to widely share the proactive programs and policies of the Bureau.
"In addition," the city's announcement said, "Chief Bey has led efforts to establish a Human Resources office at the bureau and update the Civil Service Rules regarding hiring and promotion. He amended the oral interview portion of the application process to include unconscious bias training for the reviewers for the first time in the Bureau’s history.
"Chief Bey has initiated systemic change efforts that will stand the test of time, including a policy manual consistent with 21st century policing guidelines, an Internal Affairs evaluation and gap analysis; and has started the arduous, years-long accreditation process with the PA Chiefs of Police."
Mendez, a lifelong Lancaster resident, J.P. McCaskey High School graduate and 22-year veteran of the Lancaster Bureau of Police, has served as a patrol officer, a member of the K-9 unit, an officer assigned to the Selective Enforcement Unit, a member of the Lancaster County Special Emergency Response Team, a platoon leader, and most recently Captain of Patrol, the largest division of the bureau, the city said.
“I am grateful for Chief Bey’s service to Lancaster during a time of change and I am thrilled that Captain Mendez has agreed to take the significant work we have started into the next chapter," Sorace said. "He has deep relationships both inside and outside of the bureau and is ready to lead."
