Slatington borough council honored two retired members of its police force at a special presentation Monday night.

Those honored were the former police Chief David Rachman and former Detective Timothy Wagner. Both received a plaque from the borough for their years of service.

Former Slatington Mayor Walter Niedermeyer presented a plaque to Rachman, and the new Slatington Mayor Jeralyn Walters Schoch presented a plaque to Wagner.

Niedermeyer said, “It was a pleasure being with you, 100% buddy. If I was a chief, I would be just like you.”

Rachman joined the Slatington Police Department in 2006 as its new police chief. Before that, he was a sergeant in the Allentown Police Department.

Rachman said he didn’t expect to receive an honor like this.

“This was a pleasant surprise,” he said.

Rachman retired in January.

Wagner started serving the Slatington community in the early ’90s as a volunteer with the Slatington EMS.

Schoch said Wagner joined the Slatington Police Department in 1999 as a part-time officer, then became a full-time officer in 2001 and was assigned to patrol.

In 2007, he became a detective and was assigned to the Lehigh County Drug Task Force. After being injured by a suspect, he returned to work in 2014 and worked as a detective. In 2017, he was also assigned to the Lehigh County Municipal Emergency Response Team as a negotiator.

Schoch said Wagner has received many commendations during his 23-year career for going above and beyond his duties.

“He has made a tremendous impact not only with his fellow officers, but also with the members of our community,” she said. “With his natural ability to talk and listen to people, he was able to establish great relationships with anyone he met, both on the job and off. It has been a pleasure to have you serve our community and the residents, and you will be greatly missed by all.”

“I’ve enjoyed my time here,” Wagner said. “I put a lot of time and energy into it and I’m glad to move on. At some point, there’s always a time to move forward to new projects and new things.”

Wagner announced his retirement in February, just a few weeks after Rachman.

Borough Manager Dan Stevens said, “I’d like to thank them for their years of service. They served the borough for many years. It’s a tough job being a public servant.”

Slatington’s new police Chief Dennis Long said he has worked with both Rachman and Wagner during his career as an officer with the Pennsylvania State Police.

“We’ve always had a good working relationship working together,” Long said. “I’m proud of the amount of time they devoted to the community. As well, I’m proud of the community, so I was glad we had good representation here to mold this department.”

Wagner had an endorsement of his own.

“You have a great new chief,” he said. “He’s a remarkable police officer.”