SUNBURY -- Sunbury has a new police chief. Technically the position is called "administrative chief" and it's only part time. On top of that, the new chief will not be able to make arrests or go out to crime scenes.
Up to now, Tim Miller was only the assistant chief of the Williamsport Bureau of Police. He will continue to be the assistant chief in Williamsport, but he will also work in Sunbury.
Tim Miller was voted in as "administrative chief" of the Sunbury Police Department at Monday night's city council meeting. It's a part-time position because Sunbury's mayor says that will save the city money and allow them to hire another police officer.
Miller will work about 16 hours a week in Sunbury in addition to the 40 hours he works as assistant police chief in Williamsport.
He will make $42 dollars an hour in Sunbury which equals out to about $35,000 a year.
Miller tells Newswatch 16 he was hired in an administrative role to organize the department, establish a chain of command, and clear cut procedures within the department. Miller is setting up the Sunbury Police Department so it runs more efficiently.
"I was hired to come in and write policies and procedures. My understanding is there's a lot of policies and procedures that aren't in place that probably should be," said Miller.
This is a one-year contract. After that year is up, the mayor and Chief Miller will evaluate the contract and see if they want to continue the arrangement.
"It's what I enjoy to do, and I do a lot of it in my spare time. This is a way that I can actually help a community," Miller added.
Chief Miller made it clear that Williamsport is still his primary job. Working in Sunbury is something he will be doing after hours.
Some people we spoke with in Sunbury are upset about that.
"There's crime everywhere," said Kyra Powers. "I feel like you need to have a full-time police chief."
"I think he should be able to go out on a crime scene. He's the chief," said John Zanini. "It's like, your boss can't come in to work?"
Calls to Sunbury Mayor David Persing were not returned and we were unable to get in touch with anyone on council.
