Oxford Borough Council took two actions this month to help with the process of hiring a new police chief.

Borough council authorized advertising the police chief position so that the borough can compile applications and formally start interviewing qualified candidates. Additionally, borough council approved having borough resident Jim McLeod serve on the interview panel during the search for the new police chief. McLeod has previously served on several police chief search committees for the borough.

Oxford Borough is enlisting the help of the Chester County District Attorney's office to facilitate the process of narrowing the search to a reasonable number of candidates to interview.

Mayor Lorraine Durnan Bell will be a part of the interview panel with McLeod, as will council president Sue Lombardi and council members Ron Hershey, Peggy Ann Russell, and John Thompson.

Cpl. Scott Brown has been serving as the interim police chief for Oxford Borough since the start of the year. Borough council notified former Police Chief John Slauch last fall that his contract would not be extended when it expired at the end of the year, in accordance with the employment agreement.

According to Bell, they would like to have the search process completed by June 30.