A vote on whether to fire Yeadon’s police chief was postponed during a crowded meeting

The Yeadon Borough Council on Thursday postponed a vote on a controversial proposal to remove Police Chief Anthony Paparo, opting instead to give him a chance to make a case for why he should keep his job.

The question of whether the chief should stay or go has divided the Delaware County town and prompted a petition of support signed by more than 1,000 residents.

The chief’s detractors fault him for a $387,000 payment the borough had to make to settle a grievance with the police union, which complained when he hired more part-time officers than its contract allowed. Paparo has said the extra help was needed at the height of COVID-19 and during 2020′s civil unrest.

Supporters laud Paparo, a career cop who has led the 21-member department since 2018, and say he has been a visible and positive force in the community who has worked to build relationships between residents and police officers. They say he’s being forced out because of race.

In January, newly elected Councilmember Learin Johnson asked one of Paparo’s subordinates, who is Black, if he’d be interested in becoming chief. Borough officials aligned with Paparo, who is white, said Johnson explicitly mentioned Paparo’s race in conversations about replacing him.

Johnson and Council President Sharon Council-Harris denied that race played a role in their thinking.

On Thursday, a standing-room-only crowd of the chief’s supporters packed Yeadon‘s Borough Hall, taking turns criticizing the council members leading the bid to oust Paparo and defending the chief.

”From this chief, I’ve seen a lot of good,” said borough resident Kendall Middleton. ”I’m not saying Yeadon or the chief is perfect, but he’s a good man.”

Council-Harris has said Paparo has trouble “staying in his lane,” and was unfit to manage the department. On Monday, she offered Paparo a chance to resign with three months’ salary, and called his refusal to do so “the height of irresponsibility and insubordination.”

“I know a great number of you in this chamber have a great love of the chief,” Council-Harris told the crowd during Thursday’s meeting, “but I was not elected to make decisions based on personality.”

Rather than vote on the measure to remove Paparo as scheduled, the council agreed to hold a hearing at a future date to allow him time to respond to the criticism and ensure his due-process rights.

After the meeting, Paparo said he would remain committed to Yeadon, regardless of whether he loses his job.

“They can fire me, but I still got people I gotta take care of in this town,” he said. “You fire me and you’ll still see my face in Yeadon. I’ll still be knocking at your door seeing if you got a problem, changing the lightbulb or helping put batteries in your smoke detectors.”