North Wales hires new police chief

NORTH WALES — The next full-time chief of the North Wales Borough police department is now on board.

Borough council has unanimously hired and welcomed new Chief David Erenius to be the town’s next chief.

“I want you to know that we’re all behind you. That we are here to make you successful,” said council President Sal Amato.

A veteran of the Warminster Police Department who “just started my 18th year” and most recently held the rank of sergeant, Erenius holds a bachelor’s degree in administration of justice from Penn State Abington, a master of public administration from Anna Maria College and has attended the Northwestern University School of Staff and Command.

“I’m looking forward to getting started and serving the people of North Wales Borough,” Erenius said.

During his time in Warminster, Erenius said Wednesday, he led a squad of eight officers in a patrol division, after starting his career as a patrol officer working crime scenes, and also acted as that department’s mountain bike and firearms instructor. He completed three separate FBI leadership courses while in Warminster, Erenius added, which he said will bring valuable lessons to North Wales.

“As far as leadership goes, I see it being the same things: consistency, lead by example, and my big thing is to be community-oriented, being out in the community,” he said.

At the start of Tuesday night’s meeting, council President Sal Amato asked for a motion to appoint Erenius to the position of chief, and councilman Eion O’Neill made the motion with councilwoman Wendy McClure seconding. As a full room of fellow police chiefs and officers watched, council voted unanimously to approve the hiring, then Erenius received his oath from District Judge Suzan Leonard.

“The police department is the front line of keeping our borough safe. And we’re 100 percent in support of our police department, without any questions, or anything else,” Amato said.

Borough Manager Christine Hart added her own thanks to Erenius and to interim chief Mark Bentzel and to W.M. Smeal Police Management, the search firm that assisted in filling the vacancy.

“They did a wonderful job in seeking candidates, and going through the application process, and we couldn’t do it without everyone working collaboratively,” she said.

His hiring fills a vacancy created by the departure of previous Chief Mike Eves in November 2021. Eves had been the borough’s police chief since September 2018, following the retirement of previous chief Don Fantry, who led the department for just under two years starting in 2016, and Fantry’s predecessor Alex Levy had led the department from November 2013 to May 2016. Erenius said Wednesday he had not heard much about the borough before applying for the job beyond that turnover, and expects his tenure in town to be a long one.

“I hadn’t heard a whole lot, honestly. The big thing was that they had been through a lot of chiefs in a short period of time, so were just looking for maybe some consistency,” he said.

Day one on the job was spent meeting with fellow officers and acclimating to the town’s computer systems, he said Wednesday, and a few goals are already becoming clear, including developing a formal mission statement for the department and building an online presence while getting used to the differences between a small borough and a larger township.

“Being new here, I think it’s a tighter-knit community, being 3,400 residents versus 36,000 residents, but one thing I compare it to is that Warrington is kind of broken up into neighborhoods, and the neighborhoods here are kind of tight. But the problems are the same everywhere,” he said.

Fellow chiefs from Bucks County joined a packed meeting room for the swearing-in, then followed upstairs for a reception afterward, along with neighboring chief Mike Trail of Lansdale and David Duffy of Upper Gwynedd. Erenius said afterward that he’d only recently met Duffy, but attended the Northwestern University command training with Trail, and was glad to see the show of support.

“I think it’s a super nice gesture, Hopefully it shows a community where everyone’s involved,” he said.

“I can’t wait to get going, and get in uniform, and get out here on the streets and start to meet people.”