SHAMOKIN -- During his 17 years with the Shamokin Police Department, John Brown has faced many challenges involving drug and alcohol abusers, street gang members and irate residents. But now, three years after becoming police chief, he is facing one of the toughest tests yet.
With Shamokin facing possible bankruptcy, City Council members are considering laying off some of Brown's force, which has already been downsized to 12.
"That's my toughest challenge," he said. "Trying to maintain the department. The city is looking to possibly lay people off, and they have put it on me to find a way not to. Luckily, we're looking to apply for the grant money now from Obama, which means we can at least take a shot at not having to lay people off."
The 12 on the force include Brown, who now is back on the beat. "I do shifts myself, midnights, weeknights 4 to 12, or whenever someone is off. I try to fill in, so we don't have the overtime issues," he said.
The department covers a little less than a square mile. "But there are a lot of houses in that square mile," Brown said, "and many of the people who live here are renting, are transient. They are here for a couple of months, then they are in another rented place. They bounce around, and that sometimes makes it difficult to find them when I need to."
In larger cities, crime is lessened by putting more officers on the beat.
"I don't think we will ever have that luxury here," Brown said. "I don't think I'll ever see it again in towns like this."
Brown was born and raised in Mount Carmel and earned a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University. Although his father was a policeman, he never considered becoming one himself.
"My dad was a sergeant in the Mount Carmel Police Department. He died when I was 11," Brown said. He lived in Mount Carmel until he was 23.
"As I was growing up, I never really considered becoming a police officer, to be honest," he said. "Went to college, but didn't finish. I didn't like it. I got out of college and decided I was going to get a job. I worked in a factory for five or six years. And they were testing to qualify to be a policeman in the area. I applied to Mount Carmel, Sunbury and Shamokin. Shamokin was the first one to call me, in 1992, and I've been here ever since."
Brown was promoted to corporal in 1996 and chief in 2006. He turns 40 in June. He and his wife, Denise, have three children, Dallas, Jack and Katie.
"I had no idea what it was like to be a police chief," he said, reflecting on the past three years. "The toughest part of the job has been being an administrator. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming. Not only do you have to run a police department, finding ways to keep people on staff, but also the day-to-day issues that arise. There are budgets to deal with, the needs of the community as well. Nobody teaches you how to do it. You kind of learn as you go along."
When people are interviewed about why they want a police job, they inevitably say, "I want to help people. I want to do good things in the community." They say those things because they want to be hired, Brown said.
"Truth is, we get little thanks in this job," he said. "Of course, that's not why we do the job. For the most part, we deal with the problems of society. But occasionally when we get to deal with law-abiding citizens, they appreciate what we do. And it's a nice feeling when someone appreciates you."
n In a salute to "People in Uniform," we are profiling those who respond in cases of emergency and come to the aid of others. They include police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, prison guards, doctors and nurses. If you would like to be included in this series or know someone who should, let us know. Send your name, hometown, contact information and a brief description of the job to Joanne Arbogast, c/o The Daily Item, 200 Market St., Sunbury, PA 17801, e-mail jarbogast@dailyitem.com or call 286-3954.
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