December 18, 2024
Norristown Police Department/Facebook
Norristown Chief of Police Jacqueline Bailey-Davis resigned Tuesday after less than one year on the job. She was placed on administrative leave Nov. 25, a move town officials described as a 'personnel matter.'
Norristown Chief of Police Jacqueline Bailey-Davis resigned Tuesday night — less than one month after she was placed on administrative leave.
Bailey-Davis, a Philadelphia native who became the first woman to lead Norristown police, stepped down after less than one year on the job. She began Jan. 2 as the Montgomery County town's third police chief in three years.
Bailey-Davis was placed on administrative leave Nov. 25 after being offered a severance package days earlier. Town officials did not provide a specific reason for the move.
"This decision was made after careful consideration and is not taken lightly," Municipal Administrator Leonard Lightner said in November, adding that Norristown officials were "committed to ensuring transparency and accountability while respecting the confidentiality of personnel matters."
The police department's daily operations will run as normal as Norristown begins a search for a new police chief, Norristown officials said Tuesday. The police chief oversees a department of about 100 officers. Lightner told 6ABC the town is seeking someone "who is going to look at the future of what policing looks like" and someone "with a plan for succession."
Bailey-Davis grew up in South Philadelphia and joined Philadelphia police in 1997. In 26 years with the department, she held positions of sergeant, patrol sergeant, lieutenant, captain and staff inspector.
In March, Bailey-Davis told FOX29 that her goal as Norristown's police chief was to make the town "the safest place to work, live and visit," adding that she wanted to hear all voices in the community regardless of "race ... gender, sexual orientation, creed, religion."
