State College Names Next Police Chief

Updated 8:23 p.m. Nov. 10.

A State College native will return to the borough as its next police chief.

Joseph Merrill, who has been chief of police in Altoona since 2021, will be sworn in as State College’s top cop on Jan. 5, Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said during Monday night’s council meeting.

He will succeed John Gardner, a 35-year State College Police Department veteran, who is retiring in December after nine years as chief.

“Chief Merrill brings an excellent background and a record of leadership to the State College Police Department,” Fountaine said in a statement. “During his career with the Altoona Police Department, he has held various roles, including serving as interim Altoona city manager. As a State College native, he also has good knowledge and understanding of the community. I am confident that he will be a strong leader for the State College Police Department.”

Fountaine said he and Gardner will be working with Merrill on the transition over the coming weeks. Merrill was unable to attend Monday’s council meeting because of a scheduling conflict.

“I am extremely grateful to be selected as the next Chief of the State College Police Department,” Merrill said in a statement. “It has been an honor and a privilege to work side by side with the men and women of the Altoona Police Department for the last 20 years. However, I look forward to this next chapter of my career. I am excited for the opportunity to raise my children and serve in the community I still consider home.”

Merrill graduated from Penn State in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in crime, law and justice and later earned a master’s in public administration through the university’s World Campus.

He began his career with the Altoona Police Department in 2006 and in 2013 was promoted to corporal, a role in which he led the department’s Field Training Program, according to a 2021 Altoona Mirror profile. He was named deputy chief in 2020 and appointed chief in March 2021.

Merrill served as interim Altoona city manager for several months in 2024 following Omar Strohm’s retirement.

The Altoona Police Department came under scrutiny this summer when an officer was accused of excessive use of force during an arrest that was recorded on home security video. The footage showed an officer forcing an apartment door open without a warrant and repeatedly striking a suspect while taking him into custody.

The officer reported that the suspect resisted arrest and that he worried he had a weapon. Merrill told WTAJ in August that investigations by the department’s internal affairs and use of force review board determined the allegations of unlawful entry and excessive force were unfounded. An attorney for the residents of the apartment told the station that they planned to file a lawsuit against the department.