Upper Darby Mayor Barbarann Keffer was arrested in Upper Chichester Township on suspicion of DUI after a sergeant with the department confirmed to CBS3 this morning Keffer was observed driving on Route 322 with a flat tire and a broken headlight.
Keffer was given field sobriety tests, according to police, at which time an officer determined she was not capable of driving.
Investigators say she was taken to the police department where they say she refused a blood test.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, police pulled Keffer over after 9 p.m.
After exiting her Toyota Corolla for field sobriety tests, Keffer had “slurred speech, glassy bloodshot eyes, had unstable balance and a strong odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from her breath,” an Upper Chichester officer wrote in the affidavit.
Upper Darby officials sent a statement:
Last evening, Mayor Barbarann Keffer was involved in a traffic incident and plans to cooperate fully with local authorities in Upper Chichester. The Mayor was arrested on suspicion of DUI and released. Mayor Keffer and her family request privacy as they deal with the personal aspects of this incident and she will offer additional comment in the near future.
“I can assure you that the government is operating as usual to serve the residents, businesses, and visitors of Upper Darby, with our administrative leadership and their team members focused on providing municipal services, programs, and activities to the community,” township Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Alison Dobbins said in an email.
Sources say Keffer was at a political fundraiser last night before the traffic stop.
It’s alleged by police Keffer hit a guiderail, damaged her car and kept going before being pulled over.
Barbarann Keffer’s move to defund the police
In 2020, the Upper Darby Police Department’s armored police vehicle was sent to another police department in western Pennsylvania.
“The tank sort of symbolizes an overmilitarized police department,” said Barbarann Keffer. She added that her administration is working to modernize the police department.
The vehicle had its supporters, including Republican township Councilman Tom Wagner and the Delaware County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 27.
“It’s been a very useful vehicle,” Wagner said, adding it was recently used last week during Tropical Storm Isaias. “It was proven to be a useful vehicle in a natural emergency. (The police) used that vehicle to save people’s lives.”
Chris Eiserman, second vice president of the Delaware County FOP, agreed.
“This vehicle rescued 22 people in one day and drove one person to the hospital,” he said. “The day after, (Keffer) put it on a flatbed and had it taken out of there. Who’s going to rescue those people the next time there’s flood waters?”
Eiserman said the vehicle could be used for multiple reasons such as protecting police during a school shooting or a barricaded subject in their home or to allow kids to become acquainted with police at Community Days by climbing on it.
“They took that out of our toolbox,” he said. “It’s crazy. This is a type of equipment that is not only used to rescue police but also residents. Now we don’t have that piece of equipment. These guys all made these dramatic rescues with this piece of equipment on Tuesday and they show up to work Wednesday and it’s being shipped out.”
Eiserman claimed that the Keffer administration is moving to remove the township SWAT team and all of the department’s tactical long range rifles.
“All they’re giving our police officers is a car and a handgun,” he said, adding that only highly trained SWAT officers, who train every month, were authorized to carry the rifles. “It’s not like a regular patrolman would carry that rifle. It’s one of the biggest police departments in our area and they’re taking our equipment away.”
Rongione said no rifles have been removed from the 130-member department, although conversations have begun to that effect.
