Drexel's Loss, Nazareth's Gain?

I've laid out the timeline and information (read it here), now I'd like to share some thoughts and opinions, on the Sinclair Saga of September.

To begin, anytime someone new comes into a public position and makes changes of any kind they are questioned and challenged, applauded and booed. Chief Sinclair was no different. At times I felt like I was witnessing the equivalent of a new HS football coach. There were new uniforms, new rules/policies, a new playbook/programs and new coaches/officers. There was new equipment (the heavy duty laptops) and I'm sure other items to update and boost morale.

After a year and more than a bit of turmoil within the Police Department (read this post and this one), the Nazareth Police Department appears to have moved in a good direction and was beginning to see some positive outcomes, such as the community policing, visibility, and reporting of enforcement to local media.

And then this. In my book a black eye and more - a wound that will take some time to heal.

Sinclair knew his contract was for one year. If he felt the contract would not be renewed, I can understand seeking other employment, however, there was no indication from any person I've been in contact with from Council or who is knowledgeable of Council and the Police Department, that there was anything other than positives about Sinclair and the job he had done to date.

Given that, why seek other employment?

Two very possible reasons - the commute and the money.

Chief Sinclair was required, upon being hired, to move into the Nazareth Area School District. To date, as I understand it, he has not done so. He continues to commute from the Philadelphia area. It has also been rumored that he has been able to commute in a borough vehicle.

Given traffic and not knowing where exactly he lives, I'd imagine the commute is an easy 90 minutes to two hours each way. With that a basic forty hour work week is converted into a sixty hour work week. This gets old fast.

The money is another issue. A force of 28-30 officers at Drexel would most likely command a higher salary than he earns in Nazareth. Couple it with the fact that the commute is greatly reduced and it probably begins to look like a sweet deal.

So, he seeks employment, is offered employment, apparently accepts employment (at least based on his comments in the release), and then what?

On September 8 Sinclair is to have his first day on the job at Drexel. Was he in Nazareth that day? If not, why not? A valid question considering he'd never resigned as Chief and should be in the office each week day.

If he was in Nazareth, why wait until September 9 to announce he has withdrawn after announcing on the 4th he was hired and supposed to start on the 8th?

Further, the withdrawal announcement cites "unexpected personal reasons". If he couldn't take the job because of them at Drexel, how should we feel about him doing the job in Nazareth? Okay, this was probably a saving face statement on Drexel's side after the accepted candidate backed out at the last minute or on the first day, whatever the case may be, it doesn't look good.

Why Back Out?

Assuming Drexel paid more and was closer to home, why wouldn't Sinclair do the job he accepted?

It could have been a hedge bet, but then he knew on the 2nd that Council renewed his contract so he could have withdrawn the next day and halted the release of the announcement.

It could have been a case of realizing he'd gotten what he asked for. Maybe the Drexel job sounded good, but the enormity of it wasn't worth the short commute, pay, and aggrevation. In short maybe it made him appreciate the position he was in.

It could have been a bargaining chip. Sinclair may have used this position, its benefits, and salary as leverage with Council to negotiate better terms as the Nazareth Chief, and in doing so withdrew from the other position, only to have a prepared statement released instead of destroyed.

Where do we go from here?

To begin, I'd like to see Council and Sinclair come forward and address the issue.

Explain to us why this happened. Clarify the questions that are floating around by addressing them head on - did it result in a pay raise? additional benefits? time off? reimbursement - specifically does Chief Sinclair use a borough vehicle or is he reimbursed for commuting to work? will he be required to move to Nazareth? what are Chief Sinclair's future intentions? what is Councils? How can we stop a mess like this from happening again?

As noted, I think this will be a wound that needs healing. I think two things would help to restore trust that the Chief won't walk out with the next best offer.

First, a move of Sinclair and his family to the Nazareth area would demonstrate a committment to the community. There are several good reasons the borough requires the chief to live in the school district. Committment to community is one and accessibility another.

Second, some have noted, right or wrong, that Chief Sinclair does not respond to calls. Part of this may derive from his being outside the area, or it may be in the manner the department is now run. If this is the case, I think it would be great to know he is out in the community responding to calls and seeing first hand the situations his officers regularly encounter and meet people in situations away from meetings. There is a lot to be said for being hands on and engaged and I think people in the community would appreciate seeing him and for those on scanners, hearing he is out there.

Seeing as we are at the end of the day, I have to say given everything the department has been through, his leaving and having to execute another search would have been devastating, at the same time, the release of information that he had been seeking other employment and accepted another position has got to leave questions in the minds of Council, residents, and maybe most importantly our officers.

If nothing is said publicly, let's hope he at least addresses this internally with the departmet personnel. Since Sinclair's arrival we've had many new officers. These individual's took positions and bought into Sinclair's philosophy. They now know that he nearly left and that has got to feel a bit like betrayal and I'd imagine will leave a feeling of unceartainty at least in the near future. These individuals are owed an explanation as well as reassurance and a semblance of stability.

Now that I've gone on about this...what do you think?