New LHPD Acting Chief Takes Reins Saturday
By LaKeshia Knarr
LOCK HAVEN – Det./Sgt. Kristin (Sager) Smith will take over as acting chief of the Lock Haven Police Department Saturday, following Chief Keith Kibler’s final day at the force Friday. In doing so, Smith will make local history as the first female to serve the department in this capacity.
A State College native who has been employed at the local police department for 15 years, Smith is the ranking member of the force and she has a passion for her work.
“I love putting the pieces of the puzzle together during an investigation,” she said. “You usually don’t walk into an investigation and have all the pieces fall into your lap the right way.”
Smith, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in administration of justice from Penn State University and soon after joined the Police Academy at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, noted she has participated in various trainings during her tenure.
“I’ve had numerous trainings on investigations and patrol work. I’ve been trained as a child forensic interviewer. I’ve had some homicide and suspicious death training, as well as others,” she shared.
Starting as a patrolman within the Lock Haven Police Department, she was promoted to corporal in 2011. By the end of 2013, Smith was promoted to acting detective/sergeant, a dual role that includes both investigation and overseeing other officers.
City Council announced her appointment as acting chief at its Dec. 11 meeting, and now Smith is looking forward to seeing how her responsibilities change and how she can continue to improve the force.
“I do a lot of investigative work now and direct supervision of the officers, such as reading over their reports. I will still have a small hand in that, but more administrative tasks will be a part of [my day-to-day activities],” Smith said. “We have a lot of young officers with a lot of ideas and I’m looking forward to hearing those ideas and looking at whether we can or cannot implement them to make our department better.”
Smith – who expressed interest in becoming permanent police chief – added, “I appreciate the opportunity to serve in this capacity.”
The city is currently in the process of selecting an individual to replace Smith as acting detective/sergeant.
Per the city union contract, there is a nine month limit on “acting” positions, City Manager Rich Marcinkevage told therecord-online.com. The city, with input from the Civil Service Commission, will need to decide whether to keep Smith on as permanent police chief or to advertise the position within that time frame.
After serving the local police department for 25 years, the last four as chief, Kibler won the November election to serve six years as judge for Magisterial District 25-3-01 and will have a week off before he is sworn into his new role on Dec. 29.
