SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestel suddenly retired amid a turbulent time for the transit police

SEPTA Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel III abruptly retired Tuesday amid public concerns over crime and rider behavior on the transit network and an apparently rocky relationship between his administration and rank-and-file transit officers.

Charles Lawson, a 49-year-old SEPTA police inspector and 28-year veteran of the force, took over as acting chief, said SEPTA general manager and CEO Leslie S. Richards.

“The safety and security of customers and employees is SEPTA’s top priority, and plans have been put in place to ensure continuity of operations for the Transit Police Department during this transition,” Richards said in a statement announcing the change in command.

No explanation was offered for why Nestel, 60, was retiring now. The abrupt move comes after intense public criticism of the transit police for a recent spike in violent crime on the region’s trains, trolleys, and buses and in stations — as the system tries to rebound from the pandemic.

Riders of SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line, in particular, have for more than a year kept up a drumbeat of outrage on social media about smoking, the open use of drugs, and human waste and garbage in stations and on trains.

» READ MORE: Reports of aggravated assault and robbery on SEPTA soared during the pandemic as ridership fell

“I have loved being a member of the transit police,” Nestel wrote Tuesday in an email to the department obtained by The Inquirer.

“You are fabulous people who work in a challenging environment during a tenuous time,” the chief said. “Your efforts to maintain order in a society that is recalculating the role of the police has been nothing short of amazing.”

He praised officers for acts of heroism and even more numerous “examples of compassionate and caring policing.”

But internally, there also were sharp clashes between Nestel and his officers.

In March of last year, the union representing SEPTA police officers announced a vote of no confidence in the chief, taking issue with what they considered inadequate patrol deployments and department policies that reduced their ability to detain and arrest suspects. The vote was 133-1.

The Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 in a statement blamed Nestel for unresponsive leadership and said “a hostile atmosphere of fear and retaliation has damaged the relationship between riders and the police force.”

Leaders of the Transit Workers Union Local 234, SEPTA’s largest union, called for Nestel’s resignation last year, saying employees did not feel protected from assaults. Local 234 represents SEPTA vehicle operators and other frontline workers, such as mechanics and maintenance staff.

“I don’t know how you can scream any louder than we did about the crime and the culture here,” said Omari Bervine, a transit police officer and president of the union, FOTP Lodge 109. “It’s time for a change in leadership; that’s the consensus around here. It will be a positive.”

Nestel’s departure came as a surprise to Bervine, though he said there were unconfirmed rumors of a change late last week.

A pending federal lawsuit alleging discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against a Black officer on the transit police force also helped convince SEPTA leadership it was time for Nestel to go, according to people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly.

In September 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found “reasonable cause” that SEPTA had violated the civil rights of Jon L. Randolph on the basis of race and his Muslim religion. Randolph was promoted to detective on a special investigations unit and contended that his supervisor harassed him by, among other things, using the N-word and mocking the officer for eating fried chicken and anti-Muslim comments, according to Randolph’s complaint.

When Randolph and colleagues objected, the supervisor bragged of his close relationship with Nestel and threatened to ruin their careers, the complaint says. It alleges that Nestel did not take “immediate remedial action” when made aware of the abuse.

Filings in the case, and the EEOC determination letter itself, say that SEPTA and the agency are negotiating a potential settlement.

Lawson began his career as a patrol officer and rose through the ranks. He has been inspector, the department’s second in command, for a little over four years at a salary of $128,622.

Nestel became chief of SEPTA’s Transit Police in 2012 after five years as chief of the Upper Moreland Police Department. Before that, he had a long career on the Philadelphia police force. He said in his goodbye note Tuesday that he has been in law enforcement for more than 40 years.

“Chiefs come and go,” Nestel wrote. “What really matters is the dedication and commitment of the men and women in the field.”

The authority said it was beginning its search for a permanent chief.