Buchanan sworn in as chief of Township Police Department

The Township’s new Chief of Police, Robert Buchanan, was sworn into office on Monday evening.

Buchanan replaces former chief Mark Emann, who left the Township Police Department following a corruption investigation. In January, Emann pleaded not guilty to a charge that he sold a police-owned antique M-16 assault rifle in exchange for guns for his personal use. Emann, a 32-year veteran of the department, struck a deal with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office to conduct community service and pay restitution instead of facing criminal prosecution. He had resigned from his position before the hearing.

As department captain, Buchanan has been effectively running the department since Emann was relieved of duty in October 2010. Buchanan said he expected the department to quickly move past the incident.

“Whenever you get bad press, it affects the department and its reputation, but I think that hopefully people look at it as an isolated incident,” Buchanan said. “We’re going to move on. We hold our heads high. We provide a great service to the community and we always have. We have very professional people working here.”

Apart from the scandal, Buchanan said he considered Emann’s leadership effective. “We were headed in the right direction. There was nothing major [going wrong].”

Charles Davall, deputy director for operations of the University’s Department of Public Safety, has expressed confidence in Buchanan as the new chief. “I certainly expect that our relationship with the Township Police Department will stay very strong,” Davall said.

One issue affecting Buchanan and the police department is a referendum on municipal consolidation of the Borough and Township that may appear on the ballot in November. If voters approve consolidation, the Borough and Township police departments would merge, along with other municipal services.

Buchanan, who is a member of a subcommittee on police consolidation, said his own opinion on the issue was still unformed.

“I think it’s still too premature to decide whether it’s going to save a lot of money or it’s not going to save a lot of money,” he said. “I have mixed emotions about it right now because I’m not sure the initial startup cost is going to outweigh the tax savings if there are any at all.”

“If the public decides to do it, I’ll work on the transition, and if they don’t, then I’ll continue to run the police department as chief of the Princeton Township Police Department,” he added.

Buchanan, who grew up in Princeton, has served in the department for 31 years. He earned an associate degree in law enforcement from Rider University and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the College of New Jersey and graduated from the FBI National Academy.