Ex-Upland Borough police chief charged with stealing more than $50K in OT he didn't work, DA says

Former Upland Borough Police Chief Michael Irey was arrested after he was paid more than $50,000 in overtime for shifts he was assigned to and didn't work, the Delaware County District Attorney's Office said Monday.

Irey is now facing several charges, including obstruction of justice, theft by deception, forgery and others. He was arrested in New Jersey Monday and is awaiting his extradition back to Delaware County.

The charges come after a nearly year-long investigation by the Delaware County District Attorney's Office. 

According to a release from the DA's office, the office's Special Investigations Unit was contacted by someone within the Upland Borough Police Department in December 2025. The person who reached out said that eight officers had filed complaints with the borough regarding Irey and his collection of overtime from shifts that he wasn't working.

Then, in January, the same person contacted the DA's office's Criminal Investigations Division, saying seven anonymous reports from officers within the Upland Borough Police Department placed former Irey somewhere other than his assigned overtime post during shifts he had been assigned to work. 

The DA's office says that the department receives grant money from several organizations, including the Chester Community Charter School, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. An officer within the Upland Borough Police Department assigns other officers to work overtime shifts, paid out by these groups.

The release said that the anonymous reports from officers within the department did not see Irey or his unmarked patrol vehicle in the places he was assigned to work overtime at. He was not seen near the Charter School during the morning or afternoon traffic shifts. It's also believed he was not working the weekend Roving DUI Patrol shifts he was assigned to, according to the DA's office. 

In fact, according to the DA's office, borough officers used license plate readers to place Irey and his unmarked vehicles around popular Delaware County bars, sometimes during his assigned overtime shifts. 

"Michael Irey used his position to collect more than $50,000 for overtime he never worked, betraying both the public and the officers who faithfully serve their communities. I commend the officers who had the courage to come forward and expose this misconduct. They demonstrated exactly what we expect from those who wear the badge: integrity, accountability, and the willingness to do what is right, even when it is difficult," Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said in a press release.