PHIL HOLMES/Sun-Gazette Christopher Kriner was recently appointed as police chief for the Lycoming Regional Police Department.

The Lycoming Regional Police Department announced on Jan. 9 that Christopher Kriner had been appointed the force’s new chief, following the resignation of former chief Nathan DeRemer in December.

Taking a breather from the arduous transition process, Kriner spoke about his appointment, goals moving forward and the value of community involvement with their local police departments.

“It came on a little suddenly,” Kriner, who will be entering his 25th year of law enforcement in August, said of his appointment.

“With the prior chief’s resignation, it kind of left a void there that needed to be filled,” looking to fill that board the Lycoming Regional Police Commission reached to Kriner personally and offered him the job.

“I enjoyed my time in each of the different areas of policing that I’ve been in through the years, as a patrol officer, as an investigator, doing supervision for the patrol unit,” said Kriner, a lifelong county resident, who holds a criminal justice degree from Lycoming College.

“A lot of that time was spent in investigations, which was enjoyable for me, but there was a void that needed to be filled,” he said.

“I felt like it was my job to step up, because I have experience, and I thought it was important both for the department and the communities we serve,” Kriner said.

Many of the challenges ahead that Kriner identifies are the same ones that have existed since the department regionalized in 2002.

“Geographically, we cover around 200 square miles, so it’s a big area that we’re responsible for, and as is probably every other police department in the nation, we have a limited budget to deal with,” he said, of the department which serves nine communities, including Old Lycoming, Porter, Hepburn, Lycoming, Nippenose, Piatt, Cummings and McHenry townships and Jersey Shore Borough.

Recruitment and retention, a problem faced by police departments across the nation, will be another focus for the new chief.

“We got to work through those things to try and get people to want to become police officers and to keep police officers,” he said.

As far as crime in the area, Kriner is proud of the work the department has done to bring offense levels down, while responding to new threats.

“When I was the police captain, part of my job was to oversee the criminal investigators, they do a really good job, but they do have their hands full,” he said.

“Yes, we run into problems with juvenile crime, people stealing vehicles, so part of our job is to make sure we’re putting the word out there to the communities that we serve, what’s going on, what’s suspicious, what to look out for, and they want to be engaged too.” Kriner said, highlighting the work of not only criminal investigators, but also school resource officers.

“They’re like the first line of defense to keep kids from getting into too much trouble, so that our criminal investigators don’t have to deal with it,” Kriner explained.

A big part of the department’s community involvement is the use of the Crime Watch website.

“We want the community to know what’s going on, they want to know what’s going on., and Crime Watch really helped us fill that void. It allowed us to push out that information on what’s going on, what to look out for, what our cops are up to and seeing who they’re arresting,” he explained.

“We can’t do it by ourselves, and Crime Watch helps us push out the message to our partners in the media,” he said.

The Crime Watch website also includes crime statistics, community events the department is involved in, as well the ability for people to submit tips both anonymous and not and subscribe to receive notifications.

“There’s any number of ways that they can help out, and we do appreciate the help we get from the members of our community. We’re very lucky to have their support,” the chief said.

One aspect of the department that Kriner continues to take great pride in is its emphasis on community engagement.

“The men and women of Lycoming Regional do an excellent job with community engagement, and I think you can see it on our Facebook and social media posts,” he stressed.

“They really go out of their way to participate in all kinds of different events, like the National Night Out, the Town Meeting, and things like that,” Kriner said.

“You have that support, and that’s something that you just don’t get from a really large agency, and it’s tough for a smaller agency to do all those things. So we’re lucky in that regard, that we are able to, that the officers like doing that, and it’s good for their disposition, and obviously the community likes it, so it’s a win-win for all of us,” Kriner said.

Even as he’s only weeks into his new position, Kriner has his sights set on ensuring the future success of the department.

“The other goal is to really plan for where we’re going to be in years when I’m no longer here and I’m retired,” he explained.

“The new guys are going to be running the show, or the young guys, and anything I can do to help make that an easier transition, I think is important,” Kriner said.

Those interested in keeping up with the department or submitting a tip can do so at www.lrpd.org.