At a recent meeting of the Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Commission, they affirmed and announced the selection of its new Chief of Police. At the January meeting of the NLCRPD Police Commission Chief David Steffen announced that he was planning his retirement in August 2023. This retirement announcement followed years of organizational succession planning to assure the best future leadership of the NLCRPD.  The  NLCRPD has officially named NLCRPD Lieutenant Josh Kilgore as Steffen’s successor. 

 

Lt. Josh Kilgore is a Lititz native, a 1991 graduate of Warwick High School, and graduated from the Montgomery County Municipal Police Academy in 1993. After receiving his MPOETC training certification he completed an internship as a sworn officer with the Penn Ridge Regional Police Department in Bucks County and attended classes at Montgomery County Community College. 

 

In 1994 Kilgore was hired and completed three years of service with the Warwick Township Police Department (Bucks County) where he served as a patrol officer and received specialized sniper/marksmanship training with MYLARTE, a training group derived from the US Secret Service. 

 

In 1997, Kilgore moved back to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was employed by Warwick Township Police Department (WTPD), Lancaster County where he served until 2012. During his tenure at WTPD Kilgore served as a patrol officer and specialized in accident reconstruction, bike patrols, the motor unit, firearms, and defensive tactics. Kilgore would become a lead firearms and defensive tactics instructor and eventually oversee the training division of the agency. Kilgore was promoted to Corporal in 2001 and then to Sergeant in 2002.  Kilgore was one of the original members selected to the newly formed Lancaster County Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in 2002.  

 

Kilgore returned to college and received an associate degree in criminal justice and later a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a minor in Business both from Elizabethtown College.   

 

In 2012 the WTPD merged with Penn and Clay Townships to become the NLCRPD. Kilgore would serve as a Patrol Sergeant until his promotion to Lieutenant in 2020. During his tenure at the NLCRPD Kilgore would lead the training unit and was assigned a variety of administrative duties in conjunction with his platoon assignments in the patrol division.  

 

Kilgore was a graduate of, and would later serve, as an adjunct instructor for the PA State Police Leadership Development Program (LDP) and was selected to the FBI-LEEDA program hosted by Princeton University. Kilgore would later spearhead and serve as the project manager for the NLCRPD accreditation project and was selected as an assessor for the PLEAC Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission (PLEAC) which is tasked to complete audits for various law enforcement agencies across the Commonwealth. 

 

Until his resignation from the SERT unit in 2019, Kilgore became a team leader of entry operations and was eventually promoted to the position of Deputy Commander in 2005. Kilgore was selected by his peers as the SWAT Officer of the Year in 2013. Kilgore was an avid member of the National Tactical Officers Association and served as a regional representative of the PA Tactical Association. Turing his time at SERT Kilgore received various leadership, command, and advanced command certifications. He also served as a member of the SERT advisory board and was instrumental in raising funds for team training and equipment.  Kilgore had numerous specialized training assignments and participated in or led numerous team missions for barricade, high-risk warrant, and hostage crisis events. He also served as a lead instructor on the SWAT training cadre and was selected to compete in both World SWAT competitions in Little Rock, Arkansas and several national SWAT competitions held in Hartford, Connecticut.  

 

Kilgore was an avid member of the South-Central Task Force and recipient of the “Mrs. Smith” Award for outstanding service to his community in 2019. 

 

In 2014 Kilgore was selected to attend the FBI National Academy in Quantico Virginia where he completed graduate studies in leadership and command with the University of Virginia. He would later return to Elizabethtown College where he received a master’s degree in strategic leadership. 

 

In 2020 Kilgore was promoted to Lieutenant of Operations of the NLCRPD.  He attended and graduated from the Northwestern School of Staff and Command in 2022 and was a recipient of the FBI-LEEDA trilogy award in 2023. 

 

During his career, Kilgore developed and authored various policies and processes including a leadership-based promotional system that is used by the NLCRPD today. Kilgore currently serves on the executive board for the Lancaster County Chiefs of Police Association and most recently was employed by Law Enforcement Accreditation Services (LEAS) as a professional consultant. After thirty years in law enforcement, Kilgore continues to seek excellence in policing and is humbled to serve both the officers under his command and the respective communities of the NLCRPD.  Lt. Kilgore currently resides in Warwick Township with his wife Jessica.