Longtime Delmont Police Chief T.J. Klobucar said the day he worked his first Apple’n Arts Festival, he could tell that Delmont was the right place.
“I knew this community was for me,” said Klobucar, 50, who announced his pending retirement from the police department at Tuesday’s borough council meeting.
“It’s been a great honor to serve this community that has embraced and supported me and made me feel like a son of the borough,” he said.
Klobucar first began working as a policeman in Irwin in 1997, and also worked with the Westmoreland County Park Police.
He joined the borough’s police force in 1998, was appointed interim chief in late 2002 and sworn in as chief in 2003 following the retirement of Lt. Ted Serjieg.
“The friendships formed throughout my career here have meant a great deal to me,” he said. “One of the things I’ll miss the most is coming here in the morning and having a cup of coffee with (public works chief) Bill Heaps.”
During Klobucar’s tenure, the police force went from two full-time and two part-time officers to a fully functioning department with six full-time officers. Over the years he has served as president of the Westmoreland County Drug Task Force, and as vice president and president of the Westmoreland County Chiefs of Police Association.
Klobucar also oversaw the reinstatement of the department’s K-9 program, nearly 25 years after it had been discontinued.
“When we started talking about bringing the K-9 program back, I just wasn’t ready for it yet,” he said. “I knew that when we brought it back, I didn’t want it to cost the citizens of Delmont.”
Through roughly $66,000 in state grants and county drug forfeiture funding, Delmont reinstated the K-9 program in the spring of 2024.
“Right now we also have $32,527 in donations to the police department,” Klobucar said. “That’s the highest it’s ever been. It’s thanks to the support of everyone in the borough, and with that we can keep the K-9 program going for a long time.”
Klobucar officially notified the borough of his intention to retire Jan. 5. His final day with the department will be April 5.
Borough council will begin the search for a new police chief.
“We’ll be discussing it at March’s council meeting, so we can be ready when T.J. retires in April,” Mayor Dave Weber said.
