Columbia’s 1st female police chief is borough-raised; just county’s 3rd female chief

DAN NEPHIN | LNP Staff Writer

Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz said it became clear when evaluating staff to determine if the department could hire from within, or if it would have to look outside, that Holly Arndt was who they were looking for.

“She was head and hands above all the other officers in her willingness to move forward and to better herself and also the department,” Lutz said Friday.

Arndt admitted to a reluctance to take the lieutenant’s test at first. She said “the guys and girls that work here — is what motivated me to step into that, to take the test, because I’m like, man, if we don’t, if I don’t do this, what if they hire an outside chief, and that person, we don’t know what that person is going to be like,” Arndt said.

On May 5, Arndt was sworn-in as chief, with family present, including her fiance, Alyse Gallagher, herself a K9 officer in Manheim Township. Her salary is $123,497.

Arndt is just the third female chief of a Lancaster County police force, something she downplayed.

Arndt wants to hire officers to fill vacancies. Columbia is authorized for 21 officers, which includes the chief and one detective. Right now, the department has 16 officers. Another candidate is expected to graduate from the police academy at the end of June.

The department is working to become accredited by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, which would show the department meets best-practices law enforcement standards.  

Pennsylvania has more than 1,100 law enforcement agencies, but just 205 are accredited, according to the association. “And I really want to focus on community policing, too. I know everybody talks about that, but I’ve had a couple meetings with citizens,” Arndt said. “They want to get back to doing town hall meetings and interacting with the police, not just not on calls.”

Officer wellness is another priority. Two officers recently got Planet Fitness to donate gym equipment and a borough resident donated a heavy bag to the police department. Arndt just has to find a place where everything can be set up.

And in September, Arndt will take a course through the Fraternal Order of Police so she can train other officers to be on a peer support team, “so you always have resources. I’m really big into that.”

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