Ruegg Named New Police Chief In Hatboro

HATBORO, PA —Hatboro has a new police chief and plans an official ceremony to swear him in Monday night.

Deputy Chief Mark Ruegg has taken over for recently retired Police Chief James Gardner, who ended his tenure at the end of last month after 40 years of service with the Hatboro Borough Police Department.

Ruegg will be sworn in officially as police chief at the Hatboro Borough Council's committee meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Pennypack Facility on Spring Avenue.

Ruegg joined the Hatboro Police Department in January 2003 after earning a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Sociology from the University of Scranton.

Following completion of the police academy, Ruegg served as a patrol officer until he was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2013.

He served as a patrol sergeant until his promotion to Deputy Police Chief, the first in the department's history, in 2022, borough officials said.

During his career, Ruegg as served as a member of the Montgomery County Major Incident Response Team and has deployed with the team on numerous occasions across the region for events requiring a large number of highly skilled police officers.

Those deployments included security details for the visit of Pope Francis in 2015, the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl Parade in 2018, several presidential visits, and mass demonstrations in the region.

He has also served as a member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force.

During his career, Ruegg has successfully completed numerous prestigious law enforcement training programs, including the Northwestern University School of Staff and Command and the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Program.

Ruegg and live in Montgomery County.

Gardner started his career in the Hatboro Borough Police Department as a dispatcher in August 1984 at age 18, receiving a starting hourly rate of $4.60.

He was honored for his service at the recent Hatboro Council meeting.