The Good Old Days: A Pennsylvania State Police Memory

By: Dale Gabriel

Today's PSP Memory takes me back 33 years. March 18, 1988 -- A day I will NEVER forget; my graduation from the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in Hershey. It was a TOUGH five months for me, but seeing the huge smile on my dad's face that day made it all worthwhile. I was just a kid. Look at this picture. I did not even know how to wear the "big hat" correctly.

To those of you NOT in law enforcement, it's much different than you THINK. It's not like what you see on TV. It's a calling, not a job. It's a way of life. It's what we ARE, not what we do. When others run for safety, we run TOWARD danger. Yet, there is so much hatred, So much disrespect. But we are still out there doing the job every day, much of the time for people who do not appreciate it.

Here is MY story

Going back five months earlier ... it actually all started on Oct. 19. 1987. That day, I embarked on what would be perhaps the most difficult, but also one of the most rewarding journeys in my life. I packed up my canary-yellow Firebird, kissed and hugged my girlfriend (now my wife for 33 years, and my parents goodbye, and headed east. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Other than being 20 miles away at Saint Vincent College, and coming home most weekends, I had never even been away from home. The next five long months seemed like a lifetime for this college boy, about as anti-military as they come. I never DID learn to march very well. The classroom work was simple. Pool time was easy since I had swam nearly every day possible for the past 12 years or so (although we did not have it long because of a problem with the pool) Sure, the ONE thing I would be good at, and it was gone! The rest of the academy time was NOT easy.

My knees could NEVER take the morning run of up to 5 miles. If you could not make it by a certain time, you were punished, forced to do push-ups. I had become a push-up machine! Physical training had its ups and downs. There was fight class, actual live hand-to-hand combat. Sometimes you were lucky enough to get the weak; others you WERE the weak. Range, working details, and much more; this was NOTHING like college! NOTHING!! And then there were the constant inspections. They certainly were not my friend, especially considering I did not have my mom to make my bed or do my clothes. I wondered every day what I had gotten myself into, and if I was going to be cut out for it.

But after that long, hard, seemingly IMPOSSIBLE five months, and finally passing the required tasks including the obstacle course at the exact time I needed (I still think they shaved a few seconds off my time), I would become a full-fledged Pennsylvania State Trooper. And we were here on this day celebrating. We had lost about a third of or original cadet class to grades, discipline, being unable to complete necessary tasks or just plain giving up! Other than being a father, this was easily one of most important accomplishments in my life.

I would spend the next 25 years doing what I still considered to be very important work, taking me from Shippenville in Clarion County, to Greensburg, then Kiski

Valley. I was proud of the work I did. Proud to be a "Road Dawg" for the entire time. I was punched, kicked, bitten, spit on, run down by a car, dragged by a drunken driver, and even attacked off duty, resulting in a fractured skull and severe facial injuries. Not your routine 9-5!  I kept plugging away. Several times, I was among the top 10 in DUI arrests in my troop, receiving the High DUI award. For about 18-20 of those years, I had the most DUIs at my various stations. I probably took part in taking a thousand drunken drivers off the road, and I hammered underage drinkers. Hard! Fair or not. Right or wrong. These were the violations that I despised.

I thoroughly enjoyed the hundreds of programs I put on at schools, old folks homes, town meetings, Scout troops, 4-H Clubs, PTA meetings and many more. I was extremely proud to incorporate, then put on for five years, "Camp Clelian," a one-day police camp for the students at Clelian Heights, a school for persons with special needs. It was the first of its kind. EVER! Each year, it got bigger and better. After the last one, I received a personal phone call from Gov. Corbett and our PSP Commissioner. What great memories!

Unfortunately, though, as many do not know or cannot understand, the job eats at you. It takes so much out of you, changes you. My outlook on life changed. We see a multitude of things the average person does not see. I had so many ups and downs over the years, hundreds of dead bodies, mostly fatal accidents and suicides, a few drug overdoses, fatal fires, even a few murders. I saw a man die screaming while trapped in his truck as fire raged around him. I found my daughter's best friend dead at a crash site. I sat and held a woman's hand as she expired along the side of the road while awaiting an ambulance, talking to her for what seemed like hours. Delivering death messages to people, telling them they had just lost a loved one, was very difficult, completely draining you. You have to be direct and honest, yet compassionate in giving them what is likely the worst news of their lives. Over time, it hardens you. I saw people at their very worst, injured, hurt, and scared. Very often, however, I was able to provide them some kind words, some comfort, which I firmly believe helped them deal with the situation.

And I was blessed to work with and become friends with so many great people along the way. Unlike a "normal" job, your co-workers become more than just friends. They become your life line. They are guys and girls you know you can count on when the shit hits the fan. Brothers and sisters that you know will have your back, just as you have theirs. It's not just those in your own department, but many of the neighboring police officers you work with. Unfortunately, some of them were taken from us at the hands of murderers. May they all rest in peace.

All in all, it was a great career for me. I am proud of my body of work. I am proud to have set an example in my neighborhood, someone people knew they could count on and someone the kids could look up to. In addition, I was able to work midnight shift for much of it, which allowed me the time and ability to stay active in my three daughters' lives, which I think helped them turn into strong and successful adults.

I just cannot believe it's been 33 years, and I have been retired for almost nine.