Chief Friel is a twenty year employee of Warrington Township.  In 1996 he began his employment with the Township, having served as Fire Inspector, Code Enforcement Officer, Deputy Fire Marshal, and Acting Fire Marshal before becoming a Township Police Officer in 2000.  Chief Friel became a patrol supervisor (OIC) and Field Training Officer during his second year with the department.  In 2007 he was promoted to the rank of Patrol Sergeant, and then became Sergeant of Detective’s in 2010, Lieutenant in 2013 and Deputy Chief in 2015.  Throughout his career, Chief Friel received specialized training in leadership, command, supervision, field training, SWAT, counter terrorism, criminal investigations, and narcotics.   He served 10 years as a tactical operator/team leader on the Bucks County South Central Emergency Response Team which is a regional SWAT team that covers Warrington Township.  Chief Friel was also one of the organizers and original founding members of the Bucks County SWAT HAZMAT team that was formed in 2005.  He traveled around the country with his team mates for extensive specialized training through Homeland Security in Weapons of Mass Destruction and Counter Terrorism as part of their assignment with this team.

Chief Friel is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Command Institute (2008) and the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command (2010).  In the spring of 2015,  Chief Friel was selected to attend the prestigious FBI National Academy in Quantico Virginia which is a top level professional development course for US and International law enforcement leaders.  He graduated from the 260^th Session in June of 2015.  Less than 1% of law enforcement officials ever get the opportunity to attend this academy.

Chief Friel is only the 4^th Chief of Police in Warrington Township history.