00:00 - This program has been paid for by the sponsor and does not reflect

00:03 - the views of PCN.

00:06 - Hello and welcome to Inside

00:09 - Pennsylvania Burrows.

00:12 - Pennsylvania's local police departments continue to deliver

00:15 - highly effective law enforcement services across the Commonwealth.

00:19 - They have successfully updated

00:21 - their community policing strategies and serve all Pennsylvania citizens

00:25 - through a variety of important initiatives.

00:28 - Budget constraints, changing workforces, and increased public safety

00:32 - needs are all evolving challenges that police departments are adapting

00:36 - to in a changing community and economic environment.

00:41 - Joining us for today's Police Chief's roundtable

00:44 - are Police Chief Joshua Lee from West Chester Borough, Chester County

00:48 - Police Chief Michael Traill from Lansdale, Borough of Montgomery County

00:53 - Police Chief Scott Mcalary of Quakertown Borough, Bucks County,

00:57 - and police Chief William Baer, a full craft borough, Delaware County.

01:01 - Now, here is your host and executive director

01:04 - of the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, Chris Kapp.

01:09 - Welcome to Inside Pennsylvania Boroughs.

01:11 - Our local police departments continue to perform

01:14 - at exceptional levels across this Commonwealth.

01:17 - They're effectively enforcing the law, preventing crime

01:20 - and providing emergency response for all Pennsylvanians.

01:23 - Chief, welcome back to the show.

01:25 - Tell us about the mission of your department.

01:27 - Chris, thanks for having me back again.

01:28 - This is a real pleasure.

01:30 - The mission of Quakertown

01:31 - Police Department, which is like most other police departments.

01:35 - It sounds simple and it sounds easy, but it's not.

01:38 - And it really is.

01:39 - We'll see on police cars.

01:40 - We'll see. Protect and serve.

01:42 - And in most police department, that's really what we do.

01:45 - We protect the community, and we serve the community.

01:49 - The biggest thing that we do is we help maintain and improve

01:53 - the quality of life to, people that live and visit.

01:57 - It sounds easy. You know, protect and serve.

01:59 - But there's a lot that goes behind it, and it's not as easy as it sounds.

02:04 - And chief, welcome to the show.

02:05 - Thank you. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

02:08 - The mission statement for Fort Croft is based upon.

02:10 - The same with Scott.

02:11 - Is is to protect and serve Fort Croft in my 28 years of being

02:15 - there has changed dramatically since I first stepped foot in Fort Rough.

02:18 - So, doing that is kind of evolving.

02:21 - So we're trying to be like a chameleon and evolve through time,

02:25 - with this protect and serve.

02:27 - And chief, tell us about Westchester Borough Police Department.

02:29 - Thank you. Chris. Very similar to my colleagues.

02:31 - It's about service.

02:32 - It's about protecting and serving.

02:34 - But we do so by forging collaborative

02:37 - relationships, working with our community, both visitors.

02:40 - Residents.

02:41 - We're the home to Westchester University.

02:43 - So we have a large, younger student population.

02:46 - It's all about forging relationships with the people we serve.

02:49 - And, of course, Lansdale Borough.

02:50 - Well, I think every year the chief here is kind of.

02:52 - Hit it. Squirrel in the head.

02:53 - It's service. It's about serving our communities.

02:56 - And protection.

02:57 - But the the nature of the service that we provide nowadays, the level,

03:00 - the service, things like the unhoused, which have become very problematic.

03:04 - And any responses that are specific to the community.

03:08 - So collaboration, cooperation, but understanding

03:10 - what your community wants, the level of police service,

03:13 - makes it a challenge.

03:14 - So it's like Scott pointed out to its its service, but

03:18 - it's a little more complex than that because understanding the level of service

03:21 - and how they want that service provided is the key.

03:24 - And chief, how are our local departments across the Commonwealth?

03:27 - How are they keeping up with the recruiting standards,

03:29 - and are they meeting their own expectations in that regard?

03:33 - Well, that's that's one of the more difficult,

03:36 - things that we're facing in policing today.

03:39 - It's, it's a challenge to, to hire

03:42 - police officers were seen, I think, across the board, we're seeing,

03:47 - dwindling numbers of people

03:49 - that want to pursue, policing.

03:53 - And it's it's it's very challenging.

03:55 - And not only that, but to maintain the level of,

04:00 - professionalism of the candidates that we hire.

04:04 - So it is a challenge.

04:06 - Some, some of the things that I'm learning, I think all of us are

04:09 - learning, is that it's the recruitment,

04:14 - component that I think is important.

04:16 - How how do we recruit?

04:18 - And, who do we recruit?

04:21 - I think are important.

04:24 - Delaware County itself is having a big problem

04:27 - with hiring, of police officers.

04:31 - The police academy itself at Delaware County Community College is full.

04:35 - But a lot of their, cadets are from Philadelphia.

04:38 - As far as from housing or Septa or Amtrak,

04:43 - bringing that pull out to our Delaware County isn't as big as what we thought.

04:47 - Like, if there's 50 cadets in a class, maybe 20 are coming

04:51 - out in the Delaware County.

04:53 - Which which is really hard for us to pull.

04:56 - Especially in Fort Croft, like a small little borough

04:59 - trying to bring somebody on.

05:00 - Most of the time when, when cadets come to us or future officers,

05:05 - it's basically as a part time role.

05:06 - I think my colleagues here at all have full time officers

05:10 - in their department, and I have basically part time and full time.

05:13 - So and in my area, we have that same issue as far as part time, full time.

05:19 - Me working at the Academy, doing physical fitness.

05:22 - I get to see the cadets

05:24 - so I get a better pull of the cadets, and they get to know me.

05:28 - I try to tell them it's like a, going to college

05:31 - and not knowing someone or you just going to that college.

05:34 - You don't know anybody,

05:35 - but now you're going there and you have to see a familiar face.

05:38 - So that helps.

05:39 - And that personalization really comes across to bring them to you.

05:43 - Chief man, great answers.

05:46 - But the biggest challenge we face is, is definitely recruiting

05:49 - as far as new officers.

05:52 - Bringing new employees on.

05:53 - It used to be that they came looking for us employees.

05:58 - Potential employees came looking for us.

05:59 - Now we really need to go look for them.

06:02 - And the big question is where?

06:05 - And we've discovered that.

06:06 - Or we're learning

06:07 - that we have to start looking younger and younger and looking farther forward.

06:12 - So, we had a discussion just this morning in a staff meeting

06:15 - about getting into the elementary schools to get interest there

06:19 - so that in six or 8 or 10 years, those elementary school students

06:22 - now will hopefully be potential candidates in the future.

06:26 - In addition to visiting the colleges and the community workshops

06:30 - and the community programs, we're looking even younger now.

06:34 - Great, chief.

06:35 - Yeah. Recruitment. Huge challenge for all of us.

06:38 - Much like all the departments and chiefs have spoken,

06:40 - we're we're definitely engaged, robust recruiting.

06:43 - So my personal philosophy is, is kind of a coach mentality.

06:47 - So I want to go out and identify individual candidates

06:49 - who want to come work for Lansing Police Department.

06:51 - And I want to interact with them 101 to sell them.

06:53 - On the benefits of coming to Lansdale Police Department,

06:55 - to sell them on the benefits of a public service, and to tell them why,

06:59 - career in public safety is a very noble and rewarding,

07:02 - compassion.

07:04 - But the other thing we are challenged with is retention.

07:07 - We're seeing a lot of our senior officers who have elected to leave the job

07:11 - and seek other types of employment, so they run hand in hand. And

07:15 - the challenges that are going to continue throughout the foreseeable future.

07:18 - How do you define community policing?

07:20 - That concept, and how important is it to engage

07:24 - with the public and to partner with them, to help in with your profession?

07:28 - I think as as Josh had said, before, as far as you know, the service

07:33 - to the community,

07:35 - it's important to engage.

07:37 - It's important to engage the people that we protect and serve

07:40 - what we have done is we have,

07:44 - formed some things like this, Citizen's Police Academy.

07:48 - And then from that,

07:50 - we have what's known as an app program, which is auxiliary police partnership.

07:54 - So if they go through the cap,

07:58 - they then, can become an app.

08:01 - Person.

08:01 - And what they do is they assist the police department

08:04 - with things that don't put them in harm's way.

08:07 - Crowd control for the large events that we have,

08:10 - they we've even trained them to do some traffic control and things like that.

08:14 - So it's important.

08:16 - And, you know, the sphere of influence

08:18 - is really important, because if you get one person

08:21 - that connects with the police department,

08:24 - their sphere of influence could be 40, 50 people.

08:27 - And then what we see is we don't even advertise those things anymore.

08:31 - We get we have a list of people that want to participate in this, this cap.

08:37 - And it works out really well.

08:38 - It's a it's a way of having that one on one

08:42 - kind of relationship with these people.

08:44 - And it's it's important.

08:46 - We haven't went to the extent that you have is with the

08:48 - with the Citizens Academy.

08:50 - But what we've done it over the years is basically got involved in the youth sports

08:54 - and had the officers get involved.

08:56 - And I think that trust factor, really pays dividends towards the police department.

09:01 - I don't know if all the other Delaware County police departments do that,

09:04 - but our officers do get involved with the young sports.

09:08 - Just to see the face and have that common bond.

09:10 - The kids don't really call us officer.

09:12 - They call us coach. So. Which is fun.

09:14 - Chief, in Westchester, we've had a long, long history of community policing.

09:18 - Almost 25 years ago, when I started,

09:20 - we had an office that was the community policing office.

09:23 - And, you know, there were a number of officers, 5

09:26 - or 6 officers assigned to that office, and that's transitioned.

09:29 - Now. It's in the community.

09:30 - Policing is in an office.

09:31 - It's it's, it's a concept. It's an idea.

09:34 - So we have 44 officers in the Westchester Police Department.

09:36 - We have 44 community policing officers.

09:38 - The idea is that we should all be part of the community that we serve, chief.

09:43 - Yeah. Great answer.

09:44 - Josh and and, Scott,

09:45 - the community policing concept, like you point out,

09:47 - is every officer's responsibility

09:48 - to go out there and engage with the community in a positive way.

09:52 - What we did in Lansdale, our approach is about four years ago,

09:54 - we implemented a community service unit.

09:56 - So I have, one sergeant and four officers who are they work

09:59 - strictly to engage with community engagement and all over social media.

10:03 - They handle our mental health care responder.

10:05 - They plan and execute all our special event,

10:08 - things that take place in the town.

10:09 - That's just their mandate.

10:11 - And for me, Lansdale Borough, when I became chief,

10:14 - I set about trying to build a brand.

10:15 - And all of us have our brand. And for us, it's service.

10:18 - I want people to know that when they call number one and the Lansdale

10:20 - police officer shows up, they're going to get a caring, capable,

10:23 - competent officer who's going to come out and do the job that needs to be done.

10:26 - So it's a holistic approach, not easily managed,

10:30 - but we're getting better at every every day.

10:32 - I think.

10:32 - How important is it for local departments to share information and collaborate

10:36 - with each other and each of you, of course, are part of the,

10:39 - Pennsylvania state, Chiefs of Police Association, of course.

10:43 - And, you collaborate with your colleagues from around the state and learn

10:46 - from each other how important is it to share information and support each other?

10:50 - Extremely important.

10:51 - I mean, that's how we stay ahead of the curve, so to speak.

10:55 - And now with technology, it's it's easier than it was before.

11:00 - But yeah, it's it's paramount.

11:01 - It really is.

11:03 - I think it's very important, in the, in our bureau

11:06 - and other barriers around us, us having that common bond

11:09 - and figuring out what our issues

11:11 - and what our problems are that we can solve together, it's really helped us a lot,

11:16 - chief.

11:16 - It's definitely great to learn what's worked in other,

11:20 - communities and also what hasn't worked in other communities,

11:23 - depending on what the issue is.

11:25 - Myself being a newer police chief and learning the ropes as we go.

11:28 - And it's great to be able to rely on colleagues that have been in the position

11:31 - for years or even longer for advice, for direction,

11:35 - sometimes just for for a playbook, for certain things.

11:39 - Yeah.

11:40 - Collaboration is huge among these organizations.

11:42 - Montgomery County pretty good.

11:44 - We have a very well-attended, well organized

11:47 - Chiefs of Police association from Montgomery County.

11:48 - So we meet regularly once a month.

11:51 - But we also within our specific areas in our community, like the North

11:56 - Penn area, all the North Penn Chiefs, we communicate probably on a daily basis.

12:00 - This is a challenging job, and all of us here

12:02 - are going to be challenged by some issue at some point in time.

12:04 - And the nice thing about the collaboration is, I know I can pick up the phone

12:07 - and I can call a chief who's handled that exact problem

12:10 - that I now have to deal with,

12:11 - and they're going to help guide me through the situation.

12:13 - So that's it's really important role in this together.

12:16 - How have the training standards changed over the years?

12:18 - I'm sure they've evolved.

12:20 - And what are some of the ultimate qualities

12:22 - that you're looking for in a police officer that you're looking to hire?

12:25 - Well, they changed a lot.

12:27 - And, you know, I went back to the police academy in the mid 70s and,

12:31 - my training was 480 hours, I think think about that.

12:35 - That was three about three months

12:36 - or four months today, I believe it's 7 or 8 months.

12:40 - And they get, the police cadets get a lot of training.

12:42 - But it's not just the basic academy.

12:44 - That's not where it stops.

12:46 - Training has to be a continuum in the police profession.

12:50 - And our officers have to stay, current on all of the things

12:54 - that are important, to be able to, to do the job.

12:58 - Technology is extremely important.

13:01 - And the philosophies it's important to be able to connect

13:04 - with the community that we serve, but it's a constantly evolving process.

13:09 - Same thing with us is, you know, going through the police academy.

13:13 - What I went through 20 or 30 years ago, it was totally different.

13:16 - Me working at Delaware County Community College right now,

13:19 - they're so more advanced.

13:21 - And when they come out, they actually know what they, what they can do.

13:25 - I came out and I was just like, wow.

13:27 - Like the horse blinders were off and I had no idea what was going on.

13:32 - It felt like it was I was in New York City.

13:34 - Everything was moving so fast.

13:35 - I think they come out now a little bit more advanced, than when I came out.

13:40 - But, you know, trying to get the officers that you want

13:43 - police work isn't about like being the smartest person in the world.

13:46 - It's been having that common sense.

13:47 - And that's what I'm looking for.

13:48 - I'm looking for someone who can relate with someone who has common sense,

13:52 - who is able to make,

13:54 - educated decisions really fast.

13:58 - Chief.

13:58 - Yeah. As far as what type of candidate

14:00 - we're looking for, we're looking for good people.

14:02 - If you could be a good teacher

14:03 - or a good trash man, you can be a good police officer.

14:06 - It's all about being good. Good person.

14:09 - As far as training,

14:11 - training just continues and continues.

14:13 - Continues.

14:13 - Like the chief said, it starts with the police academy and it never stops.

14:18 - But if we're going to to be married to that vision

14:21 - of continual training, there's a financial, piece to that too.

14:24 - And all the chiefs in this room struggle to to maintain a budget

14:28 - within the parameters of the budget.

14:30 - And training is always something that should be at the top,

14:33 - you know, at the top of that list.

14:34 - But we have to commit to that as an organization, as a municipality,

14:37 - each one of our communities is unique, and we all we all the nice thing about,

14:40 - as we're all borough chiefs and boroughs, are unique to like small cities.

14:44 - And they really do have a much

14:45 - more engaging job with the community than, say, a township or whatnot.

14:50 - Just to the fact that we're boroughs, so it's the right fit.

14:52 - It's the kind of guy or gal and community organization

14:55 - and can get in and get any information

14:57 - mesh with the other officers, mesh with the community.

14:59 - We can train you to do everything we need you to do on the job.

15:02 - I can't make a good person.

15:03 - So for us,

15:04 - we got to find the best capable person who can come out and learn this job.

15:09 - And we'll teach you.

15:11 - How important is mental health?

15:12 - I mean, this is a very stressful profession.

15:15 - How do you support your colleagues, within your departments?

15:19 - On the issue of mental health, as you said, it is important

15:22 - and it is a big piece of the job, to make sure because police officers,

15:28 - see, and do things that the average person, you know, they,

15:30 - they see and do things in

15:32 - maybe a month that the average person will not do in their entire lifetime.

15:36 - And there there are, there are consequences to that.

15:39 - I'm the old guy. I'm the dinosaur here.

15:41 - And when I came on the job, there wasn't

15:44 - any consideration to,

15:47 - things like PTSD and PTSD and those kinds of things

15:51 - that I think we're starting to think about, we're starting to talk about.

15:54 - Back then it was, you know, he could just, shrug it off.

15:58 - And we know that doesn't work.

15:59 - It's important for all of all the police departments, all the chiefs of police,

16:04 - is to make sure that they have a program in place

16:07 - that kills the stigma that comes with that kind of thing.

16:12 - It's the programs in the police department

16:15 - that, will engage

16:18 - police officers to not feel ashamed if they're struggling.

16:22 - And I think that's that's an important piece of it, chief.

16:26 - ID like Scott was saying, basically in the old,

16:29 - in the past years, you would sit there and, it was almost like, rub dirt on it.

16:33 - You're fine.

16:34 - Get back in the game.

16:35 - And you would feel like, ashamed if you if you even said anything.

16:39 - And I've, I found in the last probably like the last five years officers.

16:42 - It's almost like a buddy system. I've had officers come to me.

16:45 - Hey, you may want to watch so-and-so, you may want to do this.

16:48 - And that really helps a lot

16:49 - because you don't get to see them on a daily basis, chief.

16:53 - And much like, my colleagues, you know, my, my officers make me proud every day.

16:58 - I'm proud to lead, great officers and police work does put you in positions.

17:03 - You do see stuff that the everyday person doesn't see.

17:05 - And in the course of a very short period of time,

17:07 - the amount of stress that a police officer can be under is huge.

17:11 - And then that police officer leaves work and is expected to go home and just turn

17:14 - the switch off, and function perfectly.

17:18 - As a mom or dad, we also need to realize that,

17:21 - like human beings, we need first aid for our mental health.

17:25 - Just the same way we need first aid for our physical health.

17:27 - And those are programs that we offer.

17:29 - And I think the the, the key is letting

17:32 - the officers know that they have access to first aid, whether it be

17:35 - mental health, first aid or physical first aid, whenever they need it.

17:40 - Chief.

17:41 - Yeah.

17:42 - It's probably I think it's the single most important issue right now is wellness

17:45 - and resilience, where officers, they're hard to recruit, hard to train,

17:49 - hard to retain, and we really need to take good care of them, whether here.

17:53 - Montgomery County, we've invested in the ICP voucher program

17:56 - for the mental health and resilience,

17:58 - and one of the trainers are trained the county.

18:00 - And we've committed Montgomery County to train all 911

18:03 - hundred police officers in the county in the valor program.

18:06 - We know just like we can train our bodies physically, that we can train our minds.

18:10 - Penn's school positive psychology is one of the founding members of the IC

18:14 - now a program.

18:15 - So we know if given the right training techniques

18:18 - and given the right instruction, our men and women can be more resilient.

18:22 - They can kind of overcome some of these challenges.

18:25 - The job's not getting any easier.

18:27 - And the situations these young men and women are getting put in

18:30 - nowadays is becoming much more complex and induces a lot more stress.

18:33 - So I think is the single most important issue facing law enforcement today.

18:37 - Governor Shapiro, of course, signed the latest budget into law.

18:41 - Now I'll ask you, are there

18:42 - any programs that are especially near and dear to the police profession?

18:46 - Of course, on the federal level and on the state level,

18:48 - that are that are very important to, to your operations moving forward

18:53 - or any legislative proposals,

18:55 - that you're working on with the Chiefs of Police Association

18:57 - that are important, for police departments across the Commonwealth there

19:01 - there's a lot, that we, we would certainly like to see,

19:05 - some, some help with the one that's near and dear to my heart

19:09 - is our SRO programs is,

19:12 - to see if we can get those funded better.

19:15 - As Josh said earlier, is starting

19:18 - younger in the schools to,

19:21 - build an impression with the younger kids

19:24 - that has a positive impact, with, you know, police officers with them.

19:28 - Our sorrows, in the school district aren't just there to protect,

19:34 - they're there also to influence, and they're there to guide.

19:38 - And I'd like

19:39 - to see some more funding programs for the SRO.

19:42 - Now, there's a plethora of other programs that we would all like to see

19:46 - funding for.

19:47 - But, as I said, right now,

19:50 - the SRO program, I think would be great to get that

19:53 - better funded so we can get more resources into the school.

19:57 - I agree with what Scott was saying, but also, in fact,

20:00 - if we have, if we can get some more funding is the biggest thing.

20:04 - And if I could get funding for like an anti-crime unit,

20:07 - that would be a positive influence.

20:08 - And for craft,

20:10 - one of our biggest challenges is keeping up with technology.

20:14 - As technology expands, for example, body worn cameras and mobile video cameras

20:19 - and the, maintaining the data that all those cameras collect

20:24 - is an enormous cost,

20:26 - for a police department and police department of my size, quickly approaching

20:29 - $1 million to be able to outfit every officer and maintain all that data.

20:34 - That's a challenge we're experiencing now.

20:35 - And I wish at the state level or even the federal level,

20:38 - it was more standardized so that every department had access

20:42 - equally to the same technology, the same good technology,

20:46 - and that we're able to replace that technology on a regular interval.

20:50 - I think at the state level right now, some initiatives,

20:53 - is the radar, legislation that I would like to see passed

20:56 - that every single time we run burros.

20:58 - What's the chief complaint in the borough?

21:00 - Speeding cars.

21:01 - So that that's near and dear to me.

21:03 - The cop program's for hiring new officers, but also money for technology.

21:08 - The technology explosion

21:09 - that we're embracing with the body worn cameras and the DVRs.

21:13 - It's gotten so expensive, people would be shocked to learn

21:16 - how much we spend yearly to store all this data that we have to collect,

21:21 - and also funding on data analytics.

21:23 - We're collecting a lot of data.

21:25 - What are we doing with it sitting there in our respective servers?

21:28 - What's the what can be gleaned?

21:29 - What's the value in that data?

21:31 - So how can we, implement analytics like Trulia,

21:34 - which is for the body worn cameras to look at,

21:36 - how we can use that data to better serve our community.

21:39 - So technology and staffing, that's where we need the the funding right now.

21:43 - And to capture the imagination of some of our younger viewers at home.

21:46 - What drew you to this profession?

21:49 - When you're when you're younger,

21:50 - the one specific thing that I recall, Chris, was I was 12 years old.

21:54 - I was going to school

21:55 - in Germantown, Philadelphia, and myself and a group of friends.

21:59 - We were waiting for the 23 trolley

22:01 - at the corner of Germantown and Schoolhouse Lane,

22:05 - and there were four of us, and we were, like I said,

22:08 - 12 years old and a couple of 18 year olds came up to us,

22:12 - brandished the knife, and tried to rob us.

22:16 - Now, back then, the only thing I had was a couple of PTC tokens.

22:20 - It wasn't Septa, it was PTC.

22:23 - And they they weren't going to get a lot of money out of me.

22:26 - One of the friends that I was with saw a Philadelphia police car,

22:30 - which was a red car.

22:31 - They were red cars back then and screamed, we're being robbed!

22:35 - And within seconds there had to be eight

22:38 - Philadelphia police officers there who took action immediately.

22:43 - And they apprehended these offenders.

22:47 - And we all sat there or stood there and just all which is.

22:50 - And I said to myself, that's what I want to do when I grow up.

22:54 - I want to protect and serve.

22:56 - I want to I want to be the guy that comes in

22:59 - and solves the crimes and protects the people.

23:02 - And then getting to know police officers, as I, grew up,

23:06 - in college and whatnot, they were just very, very good people.

23:09 - And that just, you know, that just made it

23:12 - even more important for me to, to pursue this career.

23:16 - Chief,

23:19 - I don't know if I had any aspirations

23:21 - to be a police officer when I was younger, I didn't know,

23:25 - what was going on.

23:27 - But I did know that there was a really township was where I grew up,

23:30 - and it really township.

23:32 - Most of the police officers themselves were involved in the sports

23:35 - or around the sporting events or that I was at and where I was playing,

23:38 - and I didn't know then that I liked what they were doing.

23:41 - I just didn't pay attention to it,

23:43 - that I went to college and in the middle of doing college,

23:46 - I had an internship with, the side of the criminal Investigation division.

23:50 - And during that internship is when it drew me

23:54 - to the police field, and I was like, oh, wow, this is fun.

23:58 - This is challenging each day, and it's different every day.

24:03 - And then looking back now,

24:06 - I was paying attention to the really township police

24:08 - and what they were doing, because what they were doing, I installed in my town,

24:13 - as well as the officers coming in and,

24:16 - getting involved with the youth and, and everything like that.

24:19 - So it just that circle just went around

24:21 - and I didn't know at the time, but I was paying attention to it.

24:24 - Chief, I grew up in an area that was served that still served by the

24:28 - by the state police.

24:29 - So it wasn't often that I would see a state trooper again

24:33 - in a more spread out area.

24:35 - I do remember in second or third grade, Officer

24:38 - Friendly coming in, you know, into school and thinking, wow, that's cool.

24:42 - I don't know that that's what solidified a, a desire to get into public service.

24:46 - But my parents were both teachers, and I was always very proud of my mom

24:50 - and dad for being leaders in the community and being teachers.

24:54 - My mom was a teacher in the school that I went to, and people looked up to to her,

24:58 - and to my dad.

24:59 - And I thought, I definitely want to do something that's public service related.

25:04 - But I don't know that teaching was for me.

25:06 - And when I got to college, I got the sense that maybe it was police work.

25:09 - And from day one, I fell in love with it.

25:12 - Chief,

25:14 - you know, I don't know.

25:15 - As a young kid, I had any ambitions to be a police officer.

25:17 - Came to me later in life.

25:18 - I was a young teenager and I was in cars, bucks County for the 80s.

25:22 - And, you know, we may or may not have done some inappropriate things on the roadway

25:26 - and we may not have been stopped by the police officers, but,

25:29 - we used to hang out at the parking lot up in Newtown.

25:32 - And just one day, out of blue,

25:33 - one of the Newtown Township police officers, Bucks County,

25:36 - came out, got out of his car, started talking to us, and

25:40 - didn't tell us to leave and throw us out of the parking lot just looking at cars.

25:44 - And he was the first person we ever really humanized the badge for me.

25:47 - I would meet up with him regularly over a couple of weeks for next year, and,

25:51 - just got to glean insight of what the job was.

25:54 - And, 20 years old, I was in the academy.

25:55 - I was hired.

25:56 - And then from an it's been a greatest profession.

25:59 - I've lived a life that I'm proud of.

26:02 - That's given me a lot of great things.

26:04 - And I am truly humbled every day to put the uniform on.

26:06 - It's been great.

26:07 - It's been a great ride for science all the time.

26:09 - We have for this very important subject.

26:11 - Thanks so much for joining us today.

26:13 - Chief.

26:13 - How can we get more information on Quakertown Police Department?

26:16 - You can go to Quakertown Talk.

26:20 - We're on Facebook as well.

26:22 - Or stop down and see us,

26:24 - just walk in and say, I'm here to say hello.

26:27 - And we'd be more than happy to, to show you around.

26:31 - And of course, full craft in Delaware County. Yeah.

26:33 - Delaware County, fork of barrow.org,

26:37 - Facebook, Instagram, Crimewatch,

26:40 - anything that you can just put for craft brewing and you'll see us

26:44 - and chief, of course, West Chester borough are always welcome to stop in

26:47 - at for 01K Street and ask for me or any officer, but

26:50 - we have a very, very great social media presence,

26:53 - Westchester Borough police on Instagram, on Facebook, and on LinkedIn.

26:58 - And chief, of course, Lansdale Borough

26:59 - and beautiful Montgomery County, beautiful Montgomery County, Lansdale borough.

27:03 - Our social media is very robust.

27:05 - I invite you to go to our our Facebook page, Lansdale police on Facebook.

27:09 - Give us a like we're trying to boost those numbers.

27:11 - Yeah.

27:11 - Just look us up online and, any questions?

27:14 - My email is out there.

27:15 - You can direct any questions you may have about the PD, organization.

27:18 - To me,

27:19 - I'd like to thank our guests

27:20 - for sharing their insights on community policing across this Commonwealth.

27:24 - Thanks so much for joining us. Have a great day.

27:54 - This program has been paid

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