Cheltenham police Chief John Norris is retiring Thursday, leaving public service after 45 years in law enforcement.
Norris served 12 years as Cheltenham's top cop. He previously served 33 years with the Philadelphia Police Department before retiring from the city force as a deputy police commissioner.
Longtime Cheltenham cop, and current deputy chief, John Frye will take over as acting chief tonight at midnight. He has served more than 20 years with the township PD.
"He comes with the endorsement of the chief," township Manager Bryan Havir said. "That gave me the confidence to recommend him to the commissioners, and they took that into consideration."
The township governing body approved Frye June 15. Havir said the township has not yet decided how to permanently replace Norris, but implied that Frye would be in the running to take over.
Norris told NBC10 on his last day that it's the officers he'd miss most about the job.
"The people, the cops. They're good people," he said. "It's a great department, so that's what I'm going to miss most."
