RIDIN' HIGH
Chief Sadler, who marks his first year this week, doesn’t lead from behind a desk. Some days, he’s on a horse.
By CHIP SMEDLEY, Staff Writer
As a division captain in Philadelphia, he raised eyebrows when he patrolled the streets, making arrests and traffic stops.
Ten years ago, he went back to school and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in educational leadership. He's also an adjunct professor at Alvernia University.
As he approaches 50, the first bilingual (English/Spanish) police chief in the city has decided to train with the mounted patrol so he can guide a horse on the beat.
Sadler, who on Thursday will celebrate his one-year anniversary as Lancaster's chief, enjoys being seen as a maverick.
Reflecting on his career, Sadler said, "I think in this business you have to be willing to take risks. I don't mean reckless risks, but if you believe in this profession, if you want to defeat crime and at the same time build bridges with the community, you have to take bold steps.
"As I moved up the ranks, somebody would always say, 'They'll never make you an inspector,' and then when I made inspector they said, 'You'll never make captain,' " Sadler said.
"But all along I kept moving up and it turned out 'they' were wrong."
For Sadler, the bottom line is simple: "You can't lead from behind a desk."
His administrative assistant, Doris Kelly, has worked for three chiefs (four including the interim tenures of Capt. Donald Palmer) since March 2000.
"He's always out there in the community," she said of Sadler.
Sgt. J.D. Shaeffer is a street supervisor who is also in charge of the department's mounted patrol unit. He said, "I've been with the department 18 years and I never saw a chief out on the street as much as this one."
He's not there to micromanage, either.
"One time we had a guy [in a standoff] up on a roof and we were trying to talk him down," Shaeffer said. "I noticed someone standing behind me and I figured it was just another officer. Then I turned and looked and saw it was the chief. But he wasn't there giving orders, he was there to help us."
Kelly said another of Sadler's strengths is his ability "to see the whole picture. He grasps things very quickly. And he also allows the people in their positions to do their jobs."
Speak often and ride a big horse
Sadler grew up in the Cobbs Creek section of West Philadelphia and sees parallels with Lancaster, despite the size difference.
"You have rowhouse neighborhoods; you have working class neighborhoods; you have different cultures, and you have a downtown area with businesses and restaurants.
"We're also 60 miles west of Philadelphia, 80 miles north of Baltimore and we're not all that far from New York City," he added. "And sometimes we get some of their problems."
He laughed and added, "I'm always glad to see guys [police] from Philly come up here to pick up their guys [wanted for crimes committed in Philadelphia]. We're always happy to send their problems back to them."
His tenure in Philadelphia has benefited Lancaster.
"I left Philadelphia on excellent terms so it's not surprising we have a close relationship," he said. "Lancaster and Philadelphia are both part of the Eastern District [of the U.S. attorney's office], so I'm still working with some of the same attorneys, ATF agents, federal marshals and FBI agents. It's made our department here even more attached with the feds."
The City of Brotherly Love also helped forge his view of police work. He is a staunch supporter of George Kelling, a Rutgers University professor, and his "broken windows" theory, which calls for community policing and early intervention in "minor" crimes to keep neighborhoods from becoming unstable and unsafe.
"The difference with Kelling is that he has a Ph.D. and is a brilliant researcher but he also gets out and 'does it' and that gives him great validity," Sadler said.
"The only way you can get the pulse of what's going on is if you're out on the street," he said.
And communicating.
"Police culture in the '60s, '70s and '80s polarized communities," Sadler said, citing a lack of accountability and transparency that permeated many urban departments.
Technology, too, proved a double-edged sword.
"Cars and radios gave departments the ability to patrol larger areas, but they also minimized human contact" as officers drove around with the windows up.
"Once you do that, you start giving off the perception that 'The police don't care about us,' " Sadler said. "The challenge here is you can't sacrifice some of the efforts to become more efficient while you're trying to break down those perceptions."
Sadler said the term "community policing" is an overused catchall phrase, but that the concept is sound: "You police a neighborhood, but you meet and talk. You bring people together."
That's why he sees the value in the city's mounted patrol.
"I used to be one of those kids that, when the mounted cops came to our neighborhood, I'd go up and talk to the horse and pet the horse," he said. "When I found out Lancaster had a mounted unit, I talked to them and the boys said, 'We gotta set you up.' "
Sadler underwent training and recently spent a Friday and Saturday night riding the beat.
He was back up on his horse, Duke, Friday for a noontime patrol around Central Market. As always, the horse (and rider) were a hit with families.
Because of Sadler's unassuming personality, no one realized they were talking with the chief. He was just another mounted officer, and that was fine with him.
The same thing happened on his first evening patrol.
"People would come up and start petting the horse and the next thing you know, people would start telling us stuff about their neighborhood," Sadler said.
"You pull up in a police car and people won't talk to you, but that horse is like a magnet. The horse breaks the ice. You don't need a doctor to tell you that animals bring ... stress levels down.
"I bet in six hours I talked with over 60 people in those neighborhoods."
Sgt. Shaeffer, the mounted patrol supervisor, "We're really glad to have him ride with us, he's fantastic. He comes out to the barn and works and you can see he really loves the horses."
Crime and pot pie
Calling on his educational background (his mother was a teacher) and postgraduate training, Sadler said, "You have to do analysis. You can't say, 'We're having a robbery trend' and then just roll around and try to catch a bad guy. That's the easiest thing to do: Just wait for something to happen.
"You have to do your research. The who, what, when, where and why. Find out who just moved into the neighborhood. Who just got released from jail and is back out on the street. When are the robberies happening? Who are the victims?"
The importance of lifelong learning is what Sadler teaches in the classroom, where he likes the give-and-take with students.
"We have a lot of discussion," he said. "I get to hear the views from people on the other side of the yellow tape.
"I call it brain exercise. Just like your body needs exercise, your brain needs it, too."
Which brings him to another form of exercise he's been forced to undertake: martial arts.
"The food up here is killing me," Sadler said, laughing.
Friday in Penn Square a young woman sized up Stadler's mount and remarked, "That's one very big horse."
Sadler laughed, "He has to be. He's carrying a pretty big guy."
After he was named chief, Sadler confessed his love for local fare. Within two weeks, "People gave me 12 or 13 cookbooks with Lancaster County recipes," he said.
Sadler spent a day at CR Lapps Family Restaurant in Quarryville learning how to make chicken pot pie. The first question that seems to genuinely stump him?
His favorite food.
"I guess I would have to say chicken corn soup," he said. When his family moved to Lancaster, he was presented with a crock filled with it.
"I ate that whole pot," Sadler laughed. "I was eating chicken corn soup three times a day."
Sadler faces both his and the city's challenges with enthusiasm.
"I'll be hitting 50 this summer," he said. "It's a milestone but I'm kind of psyched up for it.
"At this point in my life I enjoy my job, I'm learning new things, I'm finding new challenges. If I wasn't doing this, I don't really know what I'd be doing with my life right now."
Sunday News
Published: Apr 19, 2009