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Uniontown native ends 35-year career in law enforcement, retiring as State College police chief

By Frances Borsodi Zajac fzajac@heraldstandard.Com 6 min read
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Submitted Photo

Tom King

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Submitted Photo

Uniontown native Tom King is ending a 35-year career in law enforcement, retiring after 23 years as police chief in State College, home of Penn State University’s main campus. King is pictured with his wife, Kelley, also a Uniontown native.

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Submitted Photo

Uniontown native Tom King is ending a 35-year career in law enforcement, retiring after 23 years as police chief in State College. King is pictured at a 2013 neighborhood event along with State College Mayor Elizabeth Goreham and resident Jack Shreck.

Uniontown native Tom King is retiring from a 35-year career in law enforcement that included 23 years as chief of police at State College, home of Penn State University’s main campus.

“It’s all I’ve known all my life and all I wanted to do,” said King, 58, who decided in seventh grade that he wanted to be a police officer. “Working with people and problem solving drew me in and that never changed.

A son of Suzanne King and the late Harvey C. King Jr., King is a 1976 graduate of Uniontown Area High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology in 1980 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He spent six months on the Uniontown police force before taking a job with the State College Police Department in July 1981. It’s a move he made because he enjoyed the environment of a college town.

“I like the vibrancy of a community with young people. I like the fact that college towns tend to be progressive: always looking for new and better ways to do things,” explained King, a Penn State fan growing up.

State College also brought King together with his wife, the former Kelley McFadden, another Uniontown native. She was a Penn State senior in October 1982 when they started dating. Both had belonged to Third Presbyterian Church in Uniontown but she was three years younger and had gone to Laurel Highlands High School.

The couple married July 9, 1983, and have two children. Their son Brad, 29, is a grant and contracts administrator for Penn State while their daughter Kayla, 26, and her husband, Mike Jensen, work as school teachers in Midlothian, Virginia.

King’s career in State College began with 12 weeks at the police academy in Hershey before becoming a patrol officer, working on foot and in a vehicle. In 1984, King was assigned to the detective division for five years – four of them working undercover in drug investigations.

A series of promotions began in 1989 when King became a corporal and was made assistant supervisor for the patrol shift. In 1991, he was promoted to sergeant, becoming lead supervisor for the patrol shift. In 1993, he was named chief of police.

As chief, King oversaw a staff of 61, including patrol officers, detectives, a traffic unit, community relations officers and two school officers.

The jurisdiction for State College Police stretches 54 square miles and includes the borough of State College as well as College and Harris Townships but does not include Penn State University, which has its own police force.

King, however, noted, “We have an extremely close working relationship.”

That includes partnering during football games, move-in weekend, graduation and the summer arts festival.

“Anytime they need additional officers or we need additional officers, we rely on each other’s staffs,” King said.

On the whole, residents of the State College area live a quiet life.

King said, “When it comes to tracking violent crime — that includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — we’re one of the safest communities in the country. We’re consistently named third or fourth. One year we were first. We’re always in the top five.”

The biggest challenges for State College police officers are dealing with alcohol-related offenses and domestic violence.

In regard to drinking, King said, “Seventy percent of the people who live in State College are between 18 and 24 years old. They’re young. This is their first time away from home. They’re experimenting and making mistakes.”

King said problems occur when people drink in excess, sometimes resulting in assaults, vandalism, thefts and people passing out.

Drinking has always been an issue with young adults, but King said, “The blood alcohol content levels are higher than 20 years ago. The reason is that in the last 10 to 15 years, there’s been a switch in college towns from beer and wine to hard liquor.”

While State College has few murders, King said domestic violence has been found to be a factor in many. In response, the police force increased training for officers and created a special unit for domestic violence calls. They’ve seen results.

“The feedback we get from the victims we serve is they feel they’re being heard,” said King, who noted State College Police Department was recognized in 2009 by the International Chiefs of Police Association for the program. “In the last 10 years, we’ve had two deaths (related to domestic violence). Prior to starting up the unit, we had one each year. Statistically, it’s helped, but unfortunately two people lost their lives. It’s not foolproof.”

Sexual assault on college campuses has also received more attention in recent years. King said Penn State President Eric Barron has made the issue a top priority and created a task force that included members of the State College community and the Centre County Women’s Resource Center.

As at any major university, a spotlight can shine on the community for good or bad.

That included a difficult period involving the criminal case of Jerry Sandusky, a former university assistant football coach who is serving a minimum 30 years in prison as a convicted child molester.

“It was a tough time. The national media came to town for months on end. Jerry Sandusky and his wife lived in our jurisdiction. The night they fired (football coach) Joe Paterno was the worst riot in my career. They fired him at 10 p.m. on a Wednesday night. Everybody came into the streets. There was major damage. Officers were injured, but fortunately, no serious injuries,” King said. “The Sandusky case was a big impact on our officers and our workload.”

King is also aware that relationships between the public and police across the nation have been affected in recent years from fatal shootings by police of black men and citizens of police officers.

In December 2014, King reached out to the Rev. Harold McKenzie, a pastor of Unity Church of Jesus Christ in State College. The two of them formed the group Community and Campus in Unity, which meets monthly to build relationships by talking about issues concerning the community.

King said of CCU, “It’s for us to learn from the group and the group to learn from us.”

Both men also served on a 2015-16 Task Force on Police and Communities of Color.

Interviewed in his final days as chief, King said he will continue to live in State College as he takes on a new position as assistant borough manager but will slow down from a 60-hour work week.

He spoke highly of his staff and new chief John Gardner, who served 26 years with the department.

Looking back, King said, “I had a blessed career with so many wonderful experiences but, unfortunately, also some sad incidents during my career. The 35 years went fast, and I would not trade anything for the extraordinary opportunity.”

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