Spring Township Police Department

About the Spring Township Police Department

Patrol Division      

The Patrol Division is the largest division within the Department. It consists of well-trained officers whose duty it is to patrol the Township of Spring and enforce the law.

The Patrol Division is the most visible section within the police force. The Patrol Division consists of five platoons that operate on a 12-hour schedule, providing the township with 24-hour police coverage 7 days a week.  The shifts run from 7am and 7pm and 7 pm to 7 am, while the split shift runs from 3pm and 3am.  Each officer is assigned to a specific district within the township in order to provide adequate police coverage for our residents.      

Each platoon is supervised by a Patrol Sergeant and is primarily responsible for handling a wide variety of calls, including medical emergencies, domestic situations, helping stranding motorists, burglaries, traffic enforcement, or any other requests for service.  They maintain a strong presence within the community and receive regular training to further their skills and stay current with any new policing techniques, crime trends, and new technology. The Patrol Division also consists of a School Resource Officer that is assigned to the Wilson School District.  The SRO is responsible for all juvenile matters and incidents that occur within the Wilson School District.

Criminal Investigation Division     

The Criminal Investigation Division (C.I.D.) of the Spring Township Police Department is primarily responsible for the investigation of matters that cannot be easily resolved by a patrol officer within the shift the officer is working at the time the crime is reported. The C.I.D. consists of a detective sergeant and four detectives.

Each detective has been cross designated as a Berks County Detective by District Attorney John Adams. This enables the detectives to work on cases that may go across the Township’s boundary into other municipalities within Berks County. In addition, each member is part of the County’s major crimes task force and can assist either County Detectives or another municipal agency’s detectives with investigations.

The Department has seen a rise in the number of complaints about drug dealing and drug use within the Township. As a result one of the detectives has been assigned to primarily work on narcotic type investigations. This detective works closely with other law enforcement agencies on the local, state, and federal level in an effort to reduce this type of activity and crimes that occur as a result of it.

History

The Township of Spring Police Department began serving the residents of Spring Township in 1938. The first full time police force was established in January, 1946. In 1950 the Township reorganized the police department under the guidance of Police Chief Ralph Gring. In 1960, Donald Schlegel was appointed Chief of Police. In 1976, the department consisted of 12 full-time officers. After the retirement of Chief Schlegel, Sgt. William Speth took over as Chief of Police in 1988. Chief Speth retired in 2002 and Cpl. Michael Messner was appointed to the position of Chief of Police. Upon Chief Messner’s retirement in 2007 the Board of Supervisors went outside the Department and hired Chief Bryan Ross (formerly the Chief of the Berks-Lehigh Regional Police Department) as its Chief of Police. Chief Ross continues to this day as the head of the Department. In December of 2020, Stephen Powell, who previously served as a Captain with the Reading Police Department and Chief with the West Reading Police Department, was hired as the Township of Spring's first ever Deputy Police Chief.