Lansdale Police Chief Mike Trail in June 2025. (Courtesy of Lansdale Police Department)
Norristown officials have tapped Lansdale Police Chief Michael Trail to lead law enforcement operations in the Montgomery County seat.
The municipality has been without a permanent police chief for eight months following the departure of former Chief Jacqueline Bailey-Davis. Lt. James Angelucci has been serving as interim chief with the announcement of Trail’s selection on Wednesday as the latest development to make the force whole.
Trail is expected to start in early November, according to municipal officials, filling the department’s third vacancy in three years. Bailey-Davis was originally selected in December 2023 and sworn in as the municipality’s first Black female police chief. She left the position after 11 months, following a tenuous relationship with the administration.
Lansdale police Chief Mike Trail speaks to borough council during his public safety committee report in the July 16, 2025 meeting. (Screenshot of meeting video)”Chief Trail’s previous experience as a police chief includes work that will be important here in Norristown, including building trust with the community, partnering with outside agencies to address calls related to mental health and housing needs, and strengthening recruitment,” Norristown Council President Rebecca Smith said in a statement.
Municipal Administrator Leonard Lightner previously told MediaNews Group that 51 candidates submitted applications for the role, and interviews with candidates were conducted between late April and late May.
The pool was narrowed to 10 individuals before crafting a three-person short list, which included Trail, 54, of Lansdale; Mark Benjamin, 57, of Fairfield Township, New Jersey, a Norristown native and retired captain of the Atlantic City Police Department; and Richard Clowser, 56, of Harleysville, former deputy chief of the Norristown Police Department and current New Britain Township police chief.
The finalists attended two question-and-answer sessions last month, allowing area residents to get to know them better as the search drew to a close. The municipality previously solicited input from area residents in a survey related to the police chief search. Community, communication and transparency were the main concerns from survey respondents as officials strived to invite community participation into proceedings.
“It’s really important you have a say in the future of the police department,” Trail said last month.
Trail’s law enforcement journey
Trail’s served as the police chief in Lansdale for the last eight years. He assumed the leadership role in April 2018 after former Lansdale Police Chief Robert McDyre retired.
Trail’s professional journey began in his native Bucks County. He shared a previous anecdote about a conversation with a Newtown Township police officer that piqued his interest in law enforcement. Trail attended the University of Pittsburgh in the early 1990s and worked in suburban Pittsburgh policing. After graduating, he moved to Baltimore to work as a patrol officer with the Baltimore Police Department. After a short spell in the private sector working as a stockbroker, Trail returned to law enforcement and came to Montgomery County in 2002, where he joined the force in Lansdale.
Trail emphasized the importance of fostering relationships with area residents. Taking a personalized approach to policing would be key in Norristown, Trail said during a public interview session in July, as he urged issuing further surveys to gauge issues of importance to area residents and cultivate partnerships with local organizations and community leaders.
Trail also recognized that impactful policing begins with its officers. He added that it’s crucial to ensure departments have good people and serve as “community engagement officers.”
“What we need to do in our recruitment and hiring process is that we need to find good people to be police officers in our communities,” he said. “We can train them to do the job … but you have to be a good person coming in the door. If you’re not, you’re not going to serve the community.”
Norristown police chief saga
The strained relationship between Bailey-Davis and the municipality came to a head in November 2024. Bailey-Davis was then placed on administrative leave and offered a severance package weeks before she stepped down from her post.
The police force declined throughout Bailey-Davis’ tenure, with 11 vacancies identified at one point before her departure. The department recorded 58 “sworn personnel,” with 40 uniformed officers and 18 leading law enforcement officials as of December 2024.
The chief is responsible for overseeing a $16.3 million operational budget with “approximately 60 officers and dozens more professional staff,” a municipal spokesperson said in a late Wednesday statement. The municipality had 36,075 residents as of July 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.
Norristown has also seen periods of rising crime in recent months, with the municipal police force averaging 3,500 calls per month, Angelucci said during an April 1 council meeting.
Trail aims to police with ‘dignity and respect’
Various topics were discussed throughout the interview process, including the escalating immigration enforcement and increased presence of federal immigration operatives. Areas in and around Norristown have seen an uptick as part of directives issued by President Donald Trump since the start of his second term.
“I don’t care what the politics are on the issue; people need to be treated with dignity and respect, and what I’ve seen going on some of these videos in different states is not professional. There’s a way to go about immigration enforcement,” Trail said.
Trail had acknowledged the interview process on his home turf during a late July Lansdale Borough Council meeting.
“I just encourage anybody, in your professional endeavors, always to keep looking for new opportunities to better yourself, and that’s why I participated in that process, and we’ll see what happens with that,” he said.
Trail didn’t immediately return MediaNews Group’s request for comment Wednesday night.
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