Upper Dublin Police Promote Lavenberg To Sergeant

The Upper Dublin Police Department officially promoted Corporal Drew Lavenberg to the position of Sergeant on Tuesday night, following a unanimous approval by the township's board of commissioners.

"He's outstanding," said Chief Terrence Thompson, of the Upper Dublin Police Department. "He's a homegrown lad from Upper Dublin and we're really thrilled [to promote him]."

After graduating from Penn State with a degree in Parks and Recreation, Lavenberg applied for an internship with UDPD in 2004.  Chief Thompson said that he initially didn't know what to make of Lavenberg, and thought that he may have walked through the wrong door.

"I had this vision of [Drew] coming into work and finding him in ill-fitting shorts, a Penn State shirt, a lanyard with a whistle, a visor, a cap, a megaphone and a clipboard," said Thompson. "That was not the case. He jumped right into doing some of our community outreach programs, and from that point on it just got better."

Lavenberg was hired as a patrol officer later that year, and has since served the police department in a variety of capacities, including work as a D.A.R.E. officer and a negotiator for the SWAT team.

Deputy Chief Lee Benson and Patrol Commander Darren Nyce were on hand to present Lavenberg with badge-number 60, which both officers had previously worn.

"There's a lot of superstition about badge numbers with police officers," said Benson. "Darren and I both wore it, and we're very proud to be able to present it to Drew Tonight."