Coatesville's police chief to resign next month

Embattled Coatesville Police Chief William P. Matthews announced last night at a City Council meeting that after nearly two years on the job, he will resign effective April 1, and he recommended that a longtime lieutenant replace him.

"All change agents have a shelf life, and I came here as a change agent," said Matthews after describing 13 pending updates to police procedure and programs. "What the department needs most now is stability."

Referring to Lt. Julius M. Canale 2d, Matthews said he hoped council members would realize that his second-in-command had "patiently waited his turn and is prepared to take over."

Matthews' failure to acquire state certification - authorizing him to make an arrest or carry a gun - has sparked criticism, particularly as the city has experienced a highly publicized scourge of arsons. Matthews said a medical problem, which he did not disclose, prevented him from getting certified.

Hired in March 2007, Matthews said in a January interview that he did not believe his lack of certification hindered his leadership. His remarks came in response to a statement from Chester County District Attorney Joseph P. Carroll, who said Matthew's tenure had hampered law enforcement efforts.

Under Matthews' leadership, about a third of the 34-member department has left. Matthews has attributed the exodus to longtime frustrations; Carroll has linked the trend to Matthews' performance.

Matthews' hiring generated conflict even before he arrived in the former steel town of 11,600. A deputy director at the Police Foundation, a Washington nonprofit, Matthews was not the search committee's top choice.

The group had chosen Philadelphia Police Lt. Joel Fitzgerald, who described a troubling meeting with Coatesville City Manager Harry G. Walker III and Richard Legree, a city power-broker who had multiple run-ins with the law. Legree has since died.

Fitzgerald said he believed Walker derailed his candidacy after Fitzgerald showed no interest in hiring Legree for a position in the department. Walker said in a prepared statement that he took Legree to the meeting so that Fitzgerald would have "an honest appraisal of what the new chief would face in Coatesville in terms of both the crime and the political sentiments."

The council also voted to authorize overtime to eight police officers at an estimated cost of $20,000 a month to maintain a strong police presence in the city. The overtime would be available to some of the officers from other municipalities who have been assisting in the arson investigation, thus relieving the strain on the Coatesville department.