It seems like just a couple years ago that Capt. Frank Palumbo took command of the Lower Northeast’s 2nd Police District.
Now, Palumbo, 45, is moving on to head up a cross-district police unit in Center Center, he told members of the 2nd Police District Advisory Council during their monthly session on Feb. 10. Capt. Thomas McLean, 47, who was the tactical lieutenant in the 22nd District, is the district’s new CO. Palumbo introduced McLean during the same meeting at the Philadelphia Protestant Home on Tabor Avenue.
The 2nd’s new commander began his Philadelphia Police Department career 23 years ago as a patrolman in the Northeast’s 15th District. In 1996, he was promoted to sergeant and assigned to the 23rd District. He later transferred to the Highway Patrol. In 2004, he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to the 22nd. McLean is a lifelong Northeast resident. He’s a graduate of Archbishop Ryan High School.
Palumbo is the second Northeast district commander in about a month to head downtown.
Capt. Michael Gormley, late of the Northeast Detective Bureau, is the 7th’s new commander, taking the reins from Capt. Frank Bachmayer. Bachmayer recently was promoted to inspector and will be working on security for the September visit of Pope Francis. He will be working along with Chief Inspector Dennis Wilson, who had worked just upstairs from Bachmayer at the Bustleton and Bowler municipal building. Wilson, who was chief of the department’s Regional Command North, recently was transferred to ROC South.
Also during their Feb. 10 session, PDAC members honored officers of the month for November and December.
Officers Joseph Green and George Schweizer were recognized for the effectiveness of their daily patrols, especially the district’s shopping corridors, according to Dianne Murphy, community relations officer.
Both officers have made numerous vehicle and pedestrian investigations, Murphy said.
Investigating a vehicle on New Year’s Eve prompted PDAC members to honor Padraic Feeney and Kevin McGrorty.
According to Murphy, the officers were on routine patrol at 9:55 p.m. when they spotted a double-parked car without hazard lights on the 500 block of E. Cheltenham Avenue. Officers checked on the car and found it had been reported stolen from Upper Darby. The driver sped off on Cheltenham Avenue and made a U-turn on the same street. The officers stopped the car and took 20-year-old Braheem Wilkins of West Philadelphia into custody.
PDAC members will next meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, at the Philadelphia Protestant Home, 6500 Tabor Ave. ••
