Upper Merion Township Police Department

The Upper Merion Police Department is an accredited police agency committed to the following objectives that allow them to be a premiere law enforcement agency in the region:

• Problem Solving and Accountability
• Professionalism of Policing
• Building Trust and Legitimacy
• Critical Incident Preparedness
• Community Communications

The department strives to keep crime rates down while continuing to build the public’s trust. Ultimately we are committed to keeping residents and visitors safe while achieving and maintaining a superior quality of life within the community.

Our 74 sworn police officer department is comprised of the Chief, a Captain, and six Lieutenants that command the Patrol, Investigations, Community Oriented Policing (COP), Auxiliary Services and Administrative/Emergency Management Divisions. The Patrol Division is the largest division with officers separated into two platoons, which are each commanded by a Patrol Lieutenant. The Investigations Division has detectives conducting traditional investigative work and detectives assigned to a Special Investigations Unit that investigate vice crimes. The COP Division has officers in the Traffic Safety Unit that conduct accident investigations as well as officers in our COP Unit that deal with quality-of-life issues. The Auxiliary Services Division has our civilian support staff, including special officers, telecommunicators and school crossing guards. Upper Merion is the only remaining self-dispatched agency in Montgomery County. Finally, our Administrative/Emergency Management Division handles all aspects of accreditation for the police department and emergency management for the entire township.

The police department has a number of specialized units including the Bike Unit, K-9 Patrol, Drone Unit, and is an active member of both the Montgomery County Major Incident Response Team (MIRT), and the Montgomery Country SWAT Central Region Team (MSWAT-CR).

Chief Nolan has been with the Upper Merion Township Police Department since 1985, serving in all divisions of the department. In June of 2012, he was appointed as Chief of Police for Upper Merion Township PD. In January of 2018, he assumed the role of Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police. He is also a team Commander for the Montgomery County SWAT – Central Region Team. Chief Nolan served at the President of the Police Chiefs Association of Montgomery County in 2019 and the Chairman of the Executive Board in 2020. He is a member of the Montgomery County Racial Justice Improvement Project Task Force and a Board member for the Montgomery County Youth Center. In 2021 he was selected to be a member of the Montgomery County Team that completed the Pennsylvania Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities Certificate Program through Georgetown University. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Crime & Justice from Albright College and a Master’s Degree in Public Safety Management from St. Joseph’s University. He is a graduate of the 227th Session of the FBI National Academy.

Captain Johnson joined the Upper Merion Police Department in August of 2000.  Since that time, he has held the positions of Patrolman, Detective, Patrol Corporal, Administrative Sergeant, Patrol Sergeant, and Investigations Sergeant.  He was appointed to the Captain position in January of 2018.  Captain Johnson is a graduate of the University of Delaware, with a degree in Criminal Justice.  He is also a graduate of Arizona State University, holding a master’s degree in Emergency Management and Homeland Security.  Lastly, he is a graduate of Northwestern University, Session 506 of the School of Police Staff and Command program.

Lieutenant Coyle joined the Upper Merion Police Department in 1999. Since being hired, he has been a member of the Montgomery County District Attorneys’ Drug Task Force, the Valley Forge Area DUI Task Force, and was a DARE officer. He was promoted to Patrol Corporal in 2007, Patrol Sergeant in 2014, and Lieutenant in 2017. Prior to being appointed to his current assignment in the Investigations Division, Lt. Coyle served as the Auxiliary Services Division Commander from 2017-2023. He is a graduate of Penn State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration.

Lieutenant Maurer joined the Upper Merion Township Police Department in 1999. Since that time, he has held the positions of Patrol Officer, Patrol Corporal, Patrol Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, Sergeant of Special Investigations and Sergeant of Community Oriented Policing. He is currently the Lieutenant of the Community Oriented Policing Division. Lieutenant Maurer received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Pennsylvania State University in Administration of Justice and a Master’s Degree from the Pennsylvania State University in Leadership Development. Lieutenant Maurer is a recent graduate of the 286th Session of the FBI National Academy.

Lieutenant Brazunas joined the Upper Merion Township Police Department in 1999 as a Civilian Special Officer. He was then hired as a Police Officer in 2000. Since that time, he has held the positions of Patrol Officer, Patrol Corporal, Patrol Sergeant, Sergeant of Auxiliary Services and Sergeant of Administration and Emergency Management. He was appointed the to the position of Lieutenant of Administration and Emergency Management in February 2018.  Lieutenant Brazunas is a graduate of Lynchburg College where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Arizona State University where he received a Master’s Degree in Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Lieutenant Brazunas attended the 148th Session of the Administrative Officer’s Course at the University of Louisville – Southern Police Institute and was named a Dean’s Scholar.  

Lieutenant Elverson joined the Upper Merion Police Department in 1995.  Since that time, he has held the positions of Patrolman, Detective, Motorcycle Officer, SWAT team member, Traffic Safety Sergeant, and Patrol Sergeant. He was promoted to the Lieutenant of Patrol in 2018.  Lieutenant Elverson served as a volunteer firefighter for many years and is a graduate of the West Chester University with a Bachelors Degree in Organizational Management and a Graduate Degree in Criminal Justice. 

Lieutenant Bruner joined the Upper Merion Police Department in 2007.  Since that time, he has held the positions of Patrolman, Detective, Patrol Corporal, and Patrol Sergeant. He was appointed to the Lieutenant of Patrol in 2020.  He is a graduate of the West Chester University with a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice.  He is currently working on his Masters Degree in Public Administration.

Lieutenant Leis joined the Upper Merion Police Department in 2006.  Since that time, he has held the positions of Patrolman, Detective, Patrol Corporal, Sergeant of Administration and Emergency Management. He was appointed to the Lieutenant of Auxiliary Services in January 2023.  He is a Nationally Registered Paramedic and a Firefighter with over 37 years of experience. Lieutenant Leis is a graduate of the University of Phoenix with a Bachelors Degree in Business Management. He also holds a Masters Degree in Public Safety Management from the Saint Josephs University.

The Upper Merion Township Police Department is pledged to engage in a cooperative effort with our citizens to achieve and maintain a superior quality of life within our community.  To the greatest extent possible, our actions will reflect the priorities of our citizens.  Remaining committed to the principles of honesty, integrity, and professional ethics, we will work diligently to reduce the incidence and fear of crime and promote an atmosphere of well being. Our efforts are aimed at helping Upper Merion Township continue to be a good place to live, visit, work and worship.

Accreditation is a progressive and time-proven way of helping institutions evaluate and improve their overall performance. The cornerstone of this strategy lies in the promulgation of standards containing a clear statement of professional objectives. Participating administrators then conduct a thorough analysis to determine how existing operations can be adapted to meet these objectives. When the procedures are in place, a team of independent professionals is assigned to verify that all applicable standards have been successfully implemented. The process culminates with a decision by an authoritative body that the institution is worthy of accreditation. 

The Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Program was designed and developed by professional law enforcement executives to provide a reasonable and cost effective plan for the professionalization of law enforcement agencies within the Commonwealth. The underlying philosophy of the program is to have a user-friendly undertaking for the departments that will result in a “success” oriented outcome. 

We are proud to announce that The Upper Merion Township Police Department has achieved the prestigious "Premier Agency" status. The Premier Agency Status program sets forth guidelines outlining a recognition program to identify the top echelon of agencies in Pennsylvania that have remained committed to state accreditation. 

In March of 1997 the Upper Merion Police Department established a full-time Community Relations Unit which has established a variety of programs to educate our residents and business community. In January of 2013 the Police Department changed the name to the Community Response Unit, along with the structure, to better respond to the needs of the Community, while keeping the integrity of the programs that were started and to add new programs with the intent of expanding services to the community. The change was also intended to highlight the fact that the entire department is community relations oriented and that community policing will remain very active throughout the Township. In 2018, the Police Department's Community Response Unit and Traffic Safety Unit combined resources to better serve our residents.  This new unit is now a part of the recently created Community Oriented Policing Division in the Police Department. This unit consists of a Lieutenant, Sergeant, 4 traffic safety officers and 3 Community Oriented Police officers

Police K-9 Units are an integral part of law enforcement, which help make the community a safer place to live. A K-9s’ keen sense of smell makes them very effective in searching for a variety of explosive materials in a variety of places throughout the community. The dogs’ detection skills can also assist the department in locating missing people and assist in apprehending suspects. Police K-9s fill an important role in our daily police work of building and maintaining strong community relations.

Through much training and upkeep, the Upper Merion Township K-9 unit has been able to assist our community in many ways, such as:

• Perform area searches to track and locate suspects
• Extensively train in conducting explosive detection
• Detect hidden firearms, expended casings, and other evidence
• Assist in locating lost or missing persons
• Perform valuable educational demonstrations and programs

Anna comes from the University of Pennsylvania Working Dog Center and is trained in Explosives Detection, Obedience, Agility and Tracking. She lives with her handler Glenn Muntzer

Kyzar originally came from a trainer in Elma, New York and is certified in Explosives Detection from the University of Pennsylvania Working Dog Center. Kyzer is also trained in Obedience, Agility and Tracking, and lives with his handler Nick Vuotto.

Maddie comes from Europe via a trainer in Trumbull, Connecticut and is certified in Explosives Detection from the University of Pennsylvania Working Dog Center. Maddie is also trained in Obedience, Agility and Tracking, and lives with her handler AJ Moll.

The patrol division is the first to respond to any call for service in the township, 24/7/365.  Our officers are assigned to the "A side" or the "B side" that rotate opposite shifts.  This ensures that the township has universal coverage.  Officers work twelve hour shifts and are traditionally assigned to a steady dayshift or nightshift, for one year at a time.  We strive to have the best officers to serve the community and this is accomplished by hiring quality people and providing them with the best possible police training available.

Our Investigations Division is home to a highly dedicated group of men and women who conduct follow-up investigations on our more serious incidents. Detectives within our Investigations Unit have participated in numerous training classes to enhance their investigative skills. They work well together as a team and are grouped into several different specialty units but help with other investigations as needed.

• Special Investigations Unit- Detectives in this unit focus on drug, vice, and auto theft investigations.
• Major Crimes Unit- Detectives in this unit focus on some of the more serious crimes such as Robbery, Commercial Burglary, and Assaults.
• Family Protection Unit- Detectives assigned to this unit focus on incidents involving Domestic Violence and Juvenile related incidents.
• Internet Crime and Technology Unit- Detectives assigned to this unit handle crimes that revolve around Internet scams, Identity Theft, frauds, and complex financial cases. They also provide digital forensics support to all of our other detective units.
• Economic Crime Unit- These Detectives handle cases involving Retail Theft, Credit Card, General Theft and any immediate arrests.

Our detectives are also fortunate to participate in several task forces with our Federal, State and County Law Enforcement partners such as the FBI, PA State Police, and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Some of the Task Forces are listed below:

• FBI Violent Crimes
• FBI Internet Crimes Against Children
• PA State Police Auto Theft
• Montgomery County Drug Task Force
• Montgomery County Gun Violence Reduction

The Auxiliary Division of the Upper Merion Police Department has a wide variety of responsibilities within the Police Department:

Dispatch Center: Our dispatch room is staff with 7 full time Professional Telecommunicators who operate 24/7/365. We are proud to report that we remain the only Police Department in Montgomery County that still dispatches our own units.

Radio System: Purchase and maintain all mobile and portable radios and the associated software and hardware to keep our police officers safe while on duty

Vehicle Fleet: Coordinate all purchasing, up fitting and maintenance of police department vehicles.

Records Division: Daily Supervision of RMS Administrator and staff, Review and approve daily requests for report releases to the public, CODY RMS Liaison for PD, SuperCOBRA administrator, NIBRS administrator, Ensure monthly compliance of UCR reports to PSP and Review Expungement paperwork

Quartermaster: Monitor and track daily department purchasing of supplies, uniforms and duty gear / equipment. Work with Public Works Director and building maintenance to ensure the station is operating efficiently and assists with all vehicle repair and maintenance scheduling

Special Officers: The Special Officers assist various divisions within the department with a multitude of duties. They also are the primary contact for all animal control duties. They assist with the Community Oriented Policing initiatives, Records Division and are also trained dispatchers and assist in the dispatch room when necessary.

In Car and Body Worn Camera Program: Oversee daily use and operation of departments in car and body cameras as the department administrator, correspond regularly with vendor on any product or maintenance issues, regularly review videos to ensure proper tagging of events and coordinate with IT department on any technical or software issues.

It is because of all of our dedicated Civilian employees that work in the Auxiliary Services Division that makes our division successful.

The Administration and Emergency Management Division was created in 2018. This division has been tasked with a complex set of responsibilities in all areas of public safety management:

Training:  All departmental training including management of the Field Training Evaluation Program for newly hired officers;

Accreditation: Compliance with state law enforcement accreditation standards;

Policy Management: Management and training for changes to policy due to changes in the law or in methods of service delivery;

Public Safety: Acting as the primary liaison division with the Public Safety Citizens Advisory Board representing Police, Fire, EMS, and Emergency Management and coordination of board meetings, discussion, and information exchange between community stakeholders;

 Emergency Management: Mitigation against, preparation for, response to, and recovery from emergencies including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other human-made disasters as mandated by PEMA.

Special Events: Operational planning, deployment of resources, and unified command for special events within Upper Merion Township.

In 2022 Patrol Officers responded to 2482 alarms, which was an increase of 174 over 2021. There were 684 Alarm Violation notices issued in 2022, which was an increase of 25 over 2021.

The police department investigated 1388 auto accidents in 2022.  When compared with 2021, there was a decrease of 31 accidents in 2022. 

This category represents all of the calls that Upper Merion Police Officers handle in a years time. This category, much like many of the other ones was impacted by the Pandemic over the course of the last 3 years.

The patrol division arrested 65 drivers for driving under the influence in 2022 which was a decrease of 21 from 2021.  Members of the department also participated in DUI Enforcement Patrols during the year.

307 Parking Tickets were issued in 2022 which was an increase of 161 over 2021.

The COVID virus pandemic affected everyone across the globe, and Upper Merion Police Department was no exception.  Case in point, our traffic stop numbers fell significantly over the course of the last three years.  The pandemic began to ramp up at the beginning of 2020.  The biggest impact was the removal of thousands and thousands of drivers as workers were told to stay home and work remotely.  Outside of work hours, many people decided to stay home or severely limit unnecessary travel.  In addition, in an effort to shield officers from unnecessary exposure risks, vehicle stops became more selective and focused on serious violations that represented community safety concerns.  Traffic volume began to increase in 2022, and continues into 2023 as many workers have begun to return to work, even if only for a few days a week.  As traffic volume continues to increase in the township, the Upper Merion Police Department is responding accordingly by increasing our traffic enforcement efforts.  The Police Department will still continue to focus on serious traffic infractions that represent a danger to the community, such as speeding in school zones, aggressive driving, and inattentive driving.                 

911 hang-up responses occur when a caller contacts the Montgomery County 911 Center and hangs up before providing any information.  The caller's phone number and address are automatically displayed on the County computer screen.  If a County Dispatcher is unable to get an answer on call back, then the location data is transferred to our department.  Two officers are dispatched to the location to check on the situation. The vast majority of 911 hang-up calls turn out to be caused by accident, yet each one must be treated as a potential emergency.  The Police Department continues their efforts to reduce nuisance locations for 911 hang-up calls.

The Upper Merion Township Police Department conforms to reporting standards recommended by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) regarding how data is recorded and submitted by Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies.  The collected data includes Part 1 Offenses.  Part 1 Offenses are serious crimes which are likely to be reported to law enforcement, such as: murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, human trafficking (commercial sex acts), and human trafficking (involuntary servitude).  The FBI deemed these incidents to be Part 1 crimes due to their uniformity of definition, total volumes (? Volumes seems incorrect), and the increased likelihood of being reported.  Part 1 crimes are broken down into two subcategories, Violent Crimes and Property Crimes.  Violent crimes are murder, rape, aggravated assault, human trafficking, and robbery.  Property crimes are burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson.      

Part 2 Offenses, as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR), are categorized as “less serious” crimes.  Upper Merion Police become aware of these crimes in several ways: reports by its own officers, citizen complaints, notification from a prosecuting attorney or information supplied by court officials.    

Under the FBI UCR Program, law enforcement agencies are able to report that a crime has been cleared (or solved) when three specific conditions have been met.  Those conditions state that at least one person has been:

• Arrested
• The offender was charged with the commission of the crime
• The offender was turned over to the court for prosecution (following arrest, court summons, or warrant)

The UCR Program calculates clearance rates based on the number of offenses that are cleared, not by the number of persons arrested.  Therefore, the arrest of one person might clear multiple different cases, while the arrest of several people might only clear one cases.  Additionally, UCR clearances are recorded in the year of the arrest, and not in the year of the offense.  A theft that occurs in 2021, but is arrested/charged in 2022, results in a UCR clearance for 2022.  Lastly, when an offender is identified but the victim does not want to prosecute, that particular crime will never be cleared.  For these reasons, looking solely at UCR clearance rates for offenses might not be a true representation of both effort and success in solving crimes.       

The Theft category includes several sub-categories to include Retail Theft (Shoplifting), Thefts from Vehicles, Theft of Moveable Property, and Theft of Catalytic Convertors, to name a few.

Over 53% of our Part 1 thefts can be attributed to retail theft incidents.  Upper Merion Township is home to one of the most iconic malls in the country, the King of Prussia Mall.  The mall property alone has over 450 different retailers.  Additionally, Upper Merion Township has numerous other commercial and retail destinations and several strip malls and shopping centers.  Combined, these shopping locations draw millions of consumers annually.  Unfortunately, these shopping locations also have many retail theft incidents every year.  The township witnessed increased incidents of retail theft in the last year, coinciding with the loosing restrictions of the COVID pandemic.  Upper Merion Police continue to work proactively with our retail partners to abate incidents of retail theft.    

In 2022, 10% of our theft incidents involved the theft of a catalytic convertor from vehicles.  Like some other crimes, the increased number of catalytic converters was a nationwide problem.  The CarFax Company (a vehicle history database company), commissioned several studies which estimated that nearly 153,000 catalytic convertors were stolen across the country in 2022.  This estimated theft number is up nearly 200% from 52,000 in 2021. 

We also saw a significant increase in motor vehicle thefts from the Township in 2022.  A major factor in this increase was due to a security flaw in Hyundai and Kia vehicles.  Hyundai and Kia were very slow in their efforts to correct their underlying issues, causing thefts to continue throughout the year and into 2023.  This nationwide problem, fueled by social media, affected Upper Merion Township and nearly all of the surrounding jurisdictions.  However, it is important to note that the police department was able to recover over 55% of those stolen vehicles.  Many of the offenders that were arrested for these crimes were associated with larger vehicle-theft group.  

The Upper Merion Police Department partnered with local and county law enforcement agencies on a task force specifically addressing catalytic converter thefts.  These agencies were from Montgomery, Chester, Bucks, Delaware, and Philadelphia Counties

The Fraud/Counterfeit category contains the subcategories of credit card/check fraud, identity theft, counterfeit money, and mail theft.  In 2022, there was a significant increase in mail theft in Upper Merion Township.  Nearly 50% of our total fraud/counterfeit incidents were related to mail theft.  Similar to the rise in catalytic converter thefts, the rise in mail thefts in 2022 was a national problem.  According to the US Postal Service, in 2022 there were nearly 38,500 high-volume mail theft incidents nationally.  This trend is continuing into 2023, with the US Postal service reporting there are already 25,000 incidents nationally.

The Upper Merion Police Department investigated these mail theft/fraud cases, several of which encompassed multiple victims.  Detectives were able to arrest many of the offenders who were responsible for over a million dollars in collective loss to victims.  Upper Merion Police continue to work closely with the United States Postal Service and other law enforcement agencies in attempts to prevent and investigate mail theft.