143: Chief Tornielli

Chief Of Police

Chief Tornielli was appointed to this position in January of 2020. So just as he was learning the roll of being the Administrator of the Department, he also had to deal with the pandemic. He says, “Stepping into a new roll just as this (COVID) hit, there were lots of challenges. There was no playbook for this.” He paid close attention to the CDC guidelines, Pennsylvania Department of Heath statements and read medical journals to help find his way. He needed to care for the 200 members on staff as well as the community as a whole.

In addition to the officers performing their everyday tasks, they took on new rolls. They assisted with many of the food distribution and community service programs. These programs normally helped by volunteers, now we’re under staffed. “The officers stepped up into those rolls.”

Chief Tornielli says, “In police work we often see people in bad times. This was a bad time. But we saw the best of people. People were coming together…to support each other through it...finding ways to step up and help out.” He hopes in the future we continue to see people helping each other.

Through his work he says he knew of “quite a few” people who had COVID. Fortunately, neither he nor his family (wife and child) contracted it. His wife, who also worked through the pandemic, is a State Trooper.