PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Nearly a year after the controversial removal of white Yeadon Police Chief Anthony Paparo, who claimed he was fired over race, there’s a new chief in the borough.
New Police Chief Henry J. Giammarco Jr. is a former Philadelphia police officer, and also white.
Yeadon Borough Council hired the Valori Group, a third-party company out of New Jersey, to help them find Giammarco who was voted in this past week.
Giammarco, a senior supervisory special agent and 22-year veteran of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, is expected to start the job by the end of January.
A cloud of controversy came over the borough in the last year, following the ousting of Paparo last February and hangings in the borough’s jail in July and November.
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Council President Sharon Council-Harris said that after the struggles the department faced in 2022, she’s optimistic about the direction of the community under his leadership.
“We're excited about the opportunity that we have right now to shift this narrative, to turn our town around for the better. We had some hard hits last year,” said Council-Harris.
“Our heart is committed to making sure that the same things that happened here last year will never happen again in our town, and so we are focused,. We're deliberate. We're committed.”
She also said the consulting company was not only hired to recruit the next chief, but to analyze the department.
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“The focus of the efficiency study was to examine what the current status of our police department is, and whatever deficiencies that were determined, and in recommendations to correct those deficiencies and improve the structure of our police department,” she said.
“We also have given [Giammarco] a survey of tools that he will be able to review and implement as he sees fit.”
Giammarco added he’s ecstatic about the position, and that the citizens deserve a transparent police department willing to work hand-in-hand with the community.
“I thank Borough Council for this tremendous opportunity,” Giammarco said in a statement. “Yeadon residents deserve a police department that is transparent and willing to work hand-in-hand with citizens, elected officials, local organizations, and businesses to provide a safe community for everyone.”