Police officers are honored

Four police officers from West Hempfield Township were honored by township supervisors at their monthly meeting tonight.


Honored were Sgt. Tim Coyle, Sgt. Russell Geier and Corp. Doug Ober and Officer James Gardill received honors.

Coyle received the Medal of Valor for an incident on Route 30 involving a speeding vehicle and a pursuit off of Route 30 into Columbia Borough, where the suspect got out of his vehicle and took off on foot. While on foot pursuit, the suspect turned and pointed a gun at police.

In addition to Coyle's honor, Corp. Ober and Officer Robert Small received letters of commendation.

Corp. Ober and Officer Gardill received the Life Saving Award as the result an incident in the township last March where they helped save the life of a 58-year-old township resident.

Geier received a Commendation Award for assisting a woman and her two-year-old son out of the second floor of a house during a domestic dispute, also in March of last year. Geier helped the two climb down a ladder during the incident that ended peacefully with the help of the Lancaster County SERT team.

Also at the meeting, new badges, honoring the 50th anniversary of the police department were unveiled. The West Hempfield Township Police Department was formed in September 1960 by then part-time patrolman Lester Myers, who became the township's first police chief. Currently there are 20 full-time officers and three full-time aides