Pennsylvania City Manager Resigns after Secretly Bugging Police Station with Hidden Cameras

Sept. 26, 2004
Folcroft Borough manager was installing hidden CCTV systems in police department to catch napping

An official at the center of the bugging scandal in tiny Folcroft Borough tendered his resignation Friday under heavy pressure from an angry public and facing scrutiny from the Delaware County District Attorney's Office.

Borough Manager Anthony Truscello, accused of installing and operating hidden video cameras in the Folcroft police station for the last two years, announced his resignation effective Oct. 1 in a call to Borough Council President James McHugh.

"It was the pressure, I guess. He felt it was time to call it quits," McHugh said.

Truscello could not be reached last night. On Tuesday, more than 300 Folcroft residents packed Borough Hall to demand Truscello's resignation. On Thursday, county investigators executed a search warrant at Truscello's office and the office of the borough secretary.

Truscello insists he has done nothing wrong. He and Borough Councilman Joseph Zito said in May that they authorized bugs in the hallway, squad room and evidence room to catch police napping after citizens complained that nighttime calls to the police station were going unanswered. They said bedding material had been discovered in the station.

But police officers, including a female officer, were outraged at the intrusion into the privacy of officers and crime victims.

On Friday, Police Cpl. Robert Ruskowski said he was relieved that Truscello had resigned. "Maybe we can put this behind us and get back to the business at hand, which is protecting the public."

He added: "But we're not letting anything go - the charges and lawsuit and whatnot. We're going after everything and we're not stopping."

A spokesman for the District Attorney's Office said the bugging investigation would continue.