About 200 people — many of them police officers — flooded the chambers and spilled into the lobby. Many said they were there to support Lt. Matt Gordon, an 18-year member of the police department suspended last week.

Others said they wanted a timetable for filling several vacancies in the department.

District Attorney Joe Carroll was there to talk about both.

“I need Matt Gordon back,” he said to the council. “If you could handle that as soon as possible, it would be greatly appreciated.”

Earlier this month, Gordon was suspended and demoted by police Chief William Matthews.

Matthews has refused to comment on Gordon’s status, and Monday night was no exception. He reiterated what he said in a letter printed Friday in the Daily Local News, that the action against Gordon was not politically motivated.

The city’s is short eight officers, about 25 percent of Coatesville’s police department. Those positions could be filled within a year, Matthews said.

A list of available police officers for hire is available from the Civil Service Commission, but city officials have unspecified issues with the available candidates, and Walker said the city wants to look outside the candidate pool. His statement drew a protest from Councilman Ed Simpson.

“We need police,” Simpson said. “There’s nothing wrong with the system. People are getting hurt in this community, and it’s because we don’t have enough police officers, and it’s time it’s stopped.”

Carroll said if the city chooses candidates from the listing, several vacancies could be filled almost immediately.

Chester County Fraternal Order of Police President Ed Toner urged Matthews to immediately begin the process of hiring new police officers to fill the vacancies.

“It has put an undue strain on the officers, and it is only going to get greater,” Toner said.

Tredyffrin police Detective Les Neri, vice president of the state FOP Lodge, said he believes Gordon’s suspension violated the city’s codes.

“I stand here to work with you and get things back on track here,” Neri said.

Councilwoman Stephanie Smith-Dowridge complained that she heard of Gordon’s suspension secondhand.

“It’s very difficult for council to be supportive of a process (that) we find out about when we read about it in the newspaper.”

Councilman Kurt Schenk was the lone council member to voice his unequivocal support for Matthews.

“Nobody else in this room will support you,” he said. “I will support you. Don’t give up.”

Schenk then downplayed the fact that Matthews has yet to become certified for law enforcement in Pennsylvania.

“We hired you to be an administrator and to straighten this department out,” he said. “Our department before you came was a mess.”

That drew an angry response from Carroll, who defended the reputation of the department prior to Matthews’ arrival.

Carroll said it is reasonable for officers to wonder when Matthews would be obtaining his certification, and he said he is not surprised so many officers had left the city’s force.

“They’re going to departments where they will be treated better,” he said.

Matthews said he is looking forward to the new hires and wants to “celebrate” the officers who are staying.

“I think it is also the morning of a new day,” he said.

In the letter Matthews wrote last week, he denied the sanctions against Gordon were politically motivated.

“Furthermore, no government official (appointed or elected) has ordered personnel changes, or interfered with the personnel administration of the police department,” Matthews wrote, responding to allegations that City Manager Harry Walker and prominent resident Richard Legree Sr. had asked if Matthews would be willing to remove one of the department’s two lieutenants upon being hired when he interviewed for the job.

Days after Gordon’s suspension, members of city’s police union expressed by vote that they had “no confidence” in Matthews’ leadership.

A statement obtained Thursday by the Daily Local News outlined some of the union’s problems with the chief, including the failure of the department to replace safety equipment and the chief’s lack of certification to act as a police officer in Pennsylvania.

“Coatesville’s police officers will continue to risk their lives to protect our city’s residents and businesses, but we believe that our police officers and taxpaying residents deserve better … Unfortunately, the current leadership has failed to provide the tools needed to maintain an effective and capable police department,” the union wrote.

Matthews was sworn in as police chief in April.

To contact staff writer R. Jonathan Tuleya, send an e-mail to jtuleya@dailylocal.com.