NEWBURGH – The City of Newburgh is without a police chief again following the recent retirement of Arnold Amthor after only an eight-month stint.
Lt. Kevin Lahar is currently the officer in charge of the department.
Mayor Torrance Harvey said there are no immediate plans for another civil service exam for the chief’s position but among the city’s options is to switch from chief to police commissioner, which would eliminate the testing requirement.
“You could look at someone from within or you can look at doing a national search for a police commissioner,” he said.
In the late 1970s, Newburgh switched from a police chief to commissioner form of leadership, but later went back to the chief’s role.
Mayor Harvey is also lobbying for the creation of a public safety commissioner post to supervise both the police and fire departments.
