Lansford Police Chief Kyle Woodward, who announced his retirement Monday, shared a guide for the department going into the new year and into the future with a new police chief.

First on his list was hire a strictly administrative police chief to move the police department forward, and not a chief running calls for service and handling parking complaints on a daily basis.

The chief’s priorities, he said, should include:

• Mandatory in-person training for officers every year.

• Reviewing select neighborhoods with police, road crew, magistrate and citizens to identify issues with vehicles, streets, sidewalks and homes.

• Creating funding to foster interactions with school-age children to promote and create relationships with them, suggesting $5,000 a year.

• Creating an inspection sticker ordinance for the borough to allow towing for vehicles with expired inspections.

• Creating standard operating procedures for new body cameras, and other procedures to hold officers accountable.

• Establishing a step-by-step investigation guide, work on police contract, court liaison, court overtime and timeline on finishing reports.

• Adding a parking enforcement person.

Woodward also looked back at what was accomplished in 2024 working with borough council and officers.

The accomplishments include:

• Obtaining new firearms, optics, lights and holsters; a new computer server; secured emails; new work cellphones; new security cameras for police station to hold everyone accountable.

• Ordering new body cameras, body armor and a police vehicle.

• Purging or destroying drug evidence.

• Passing a state audit.

• Using computers in vehicles.

• Entering reports.

• Better investigations.

• Four-stage timecards and verification for payroll.

• Hired two part-time officers.

• Established better relationship with council and officers.

• Read and signed off on contract and standard operating procedures.

• Kept police department under budget, and attended budget meetings.

• Met with neighbors to work out issues.

• Handled drug search warrants, body search warrants and informants.

Retention

Woodward also outlined the reasons why the department lost two police officers, left for other jobs, and offered suggestions on retaining them.

Among the reasons for the loss of officers, he said, were contract pay and the dropping of compensatory time and carry over days.

Woodward also pointed to issues with police vehicles, the police station, support of council, and new officers not getting health insurance when they retire.

The borough could retain officers by providing a better shift schedule, allowing vehicles to be taken home, a workout incentive; continued education pay or credit, awards and recognitions, and offering health care when officers retire.

The last item on Woodward’s list for officer retention was a new police station, possibly with the school district by the stadium.

“The above is or was my vision,” he wrote in his resignation letter, “But can be passed on future use.”

Council President Bruce Markovich called most of Woodward’s idea “cost prohibitive.”

“Can you imagine telling the taxpayers we are allowing officers to take cars home to Weatherly, Drums, White Haven, with us picking up the gas?” he said after reading Woodward’s letter.

Markovich also pointed out that retirement health care costs $50,000 per officer, and Lansford is a small town with a small budget.