Northern Berks Regional Police welcomed another new officer to the ranks and new police car graphics have been approved.
Exeter Township High School alumnus Vaughan Stankiewicz, 27, from Birdsboro, started as a full-time officer on Feb. 26. Previously, he served five years in the Marines. He recently graduated from the Police Academy.
“I’ve always been attracted to police work, it’s high moral meaning. So when I retire, and I’m laying in my bed at the end of my time, I can look back and say I did something meaningful with my life,” said Stankiewicz. “I’m looking forward to meeting all of the citizens out here and doing my best to help them out.”
He looks forward to working with the officers at Northern Berks.
“Everyone’s easy to work with, everyone’s very nice, everyone’s really respectful and willing to help out,” he said.
Northern Berks Police Chief Brian Horner said Stankiewicz is the youngest officer on the Northern Berks Police force.
“He has a lot of ambition and he’s raring to go,” said Horner. “I feel that he’s going to be a big asset to the department, just like Shea Nolan is.”
Horner said there has been discussion about possibly hiring another officer this summer.
“We are still short handed but we’re functioning very well with officers being out at this time,” he said. “There has been adjustment to the scheduling.”
Also, the Police Commission recently approved new graphics for the Northern Berks police vehicles.
“That’s going to really set us off from any other department plus I think it’s really important to have a special design to the car. When people see that they’re going to know it’s definitely Northern Berks Regional Police Department,” said Horner.
Two 2018 Dodge Chargers, with all-wheel drive and V8 engines, have been ordered. Once those arrive, the new graphics will be placed on those Chargers.
“See how it looks and if we really like that style look and everything turns out the way we like it, then we’re going to be removing the decals off of our newer cars that we have and putting the new look on those,” said Horner. “People are going to see a different change with our police department with the look.”
Officer uniforms will also get an upgrade with the addition of flex badges, which are a soft badge which will have a different style depending on rank. Also, the police department logo will be on the back of their kevlar vests so that Northern Berks Police officers are more identifiable when out on a scene.
“Everything is going very well… There has been a lot of dedication from the sergeants. Ruth Manmiller, our secretary, she has done a phenomenal job…” said Horner. “I feel the department has improved drastically and I still see a lot more improvement and growth to come.”