Executive Q & A with Chief Patrick Molloy of the Abington Township Police Department
At CODY, we believe that the real test of our software is how it supports the missions of the departments who use it every day. In this Executive Q&A, we talk to Chief Pat Molloy of Abington PD, CODY RMS customer since 2007 and Pathfinder RMS Limited Release participant.
1. Can you tell us about your agency?
The Abington Township Police Department borders northeast Philadelphia, and we have 93 sworn officers and 30 civilian employees. The Command and Supervisory Staff consists of 2 Deputy Chiefs, 5 Lieutenants, a civilian Director of Records and Communications, and 12 Sergeants.Our organization is divided into 4 divisions: administration, patrol, detectives, and community policing. When we look at the six pillars of 21st century policing, we know how important it is to our profession that we all commit to the best practices of policing. We are proud of the fact that in 2002 we were one of the first police departments in Pennsylvania to be accredited through PLEAC. In 2004, we received accreditation from CALEA and remain committed to the accreditation process. We have been designated as a gold standard agency by CALEA and a premier accredited agency by PLEAC.
2. What is Abington PD’s mission statement?
The mission of the members of the Abington Township Police Department is to protect the rights, safety, and property of all persons within Abington Township and to otherwise provide professional service to all who come within our care and jurisdiction. The members of our department will be guided by the values of our community and will faithfully perform their duties in accordance with the United States constitution, the international code of police ethics and all federal, state, and local laws. To accomplish this mission more effectively and efficiently, the members of the Abington Township Police Department have adopted the motto “To Protect and Serve with Pride”, along with the established goals, objectives, policies, and procedures. Our core values are professionalism, respect, integrity, dedication, and esprit de corps.
3. Tell us about the township of Abington, PA.
Abington Township is approximately 16 square miles with 60,000 residents. Our latest census reports that we are comprised of approximately 85% white residents, 13% black residents, and 2% Asian and Hispanic. We have two major hospitals in our jurisdiction, Abington Jefferson Health, and Holy Redeemer Hospital. We also have Penn State University (Abington Campus) as well as the Abington School District operates one high school, one middle school, and seven elementary schools. We are also home to the Willow Grove Park Mall, the Keswick theatre, and a mix of residential and commercial businesses.
4. How does Abington PD build community involvement and awareness?
Our department has had a strong commitment to the principles of community-oriented policing, dating back to the early 1990s when Chief Kelly committed to many of the programs that we have here today. I refer to our programs as the alphabet soup of community policing. DARE, PAL, YAP, SRO’s, ACT (Abington Community Task Force) VIPs, (Volunteers in Policing) CAPT (Citizens and Police Together) We are proud of all of the work that we do with our community, and we know that we have a responsibility to focus on our youth and do everything that we can do to mentor them and divert them from the criminal justice system when appropriate. We know that we cannot do this job properly without the support, consent, and involvement of our citizens.
5. How does Abington PD work with the school district to help keep students safe?
The Abington Township Police Department and the Abington School District have a great relationship. We have been used as a model by the FBI when it comes to active shooter training and other programs that we have in place to have regular training and drills with the administration, staff, and teachers. We have had two school resource officers assigned to our high school and junior high school since 1998. And our DARE program has been in place since 1994 and is presently in each of our 8 elementary schools and our parochial schools. The Superintendent and I speak regularly, and work cooperatively on issues related to juvenile delinquency, crime, and violence. The SRO’s, our DARE officers, and many others in APD feel as though they are an extension of the Abington School District staff/family. I could not be prouder of our current school resource officers who are there to protect and serve those students but are also there because they want to provide mentorship to those who lack mentors in their life.
6. Can you tell us about your testimony at a recent Pennsylvania Senate hearing on the challenges facing law enforcement today?
I had the opportunity to testify before the Pennsylvania Senate with Chiefs Dave Splain and Chief Mike Vogel. I was encouraged by how responsive the committee was to our concerns. Like many law enforcement professionals and citizens alike throughout the Commonwealth, we have grave concerns about the overcorrection that has taken place with criminal justice reform. The one glaring example is bail reform. We have witnessed an uptick in gun arrests because of the policies in place that simply allow those felons possessing firearms illegally to be released with no bail. While I understand and support many meaningful proposals for criminal justice reform, this is one that has contributed to the escalating violence in our communities, putting not only our citizens at risk, but all our officers.
7. In what ways does Abington PD leverage technology to help it achieve its mission?
I am astounded at how fast technology is moving in our profession, and how beneficial it is to our officers and to our citizens. With the use of LPR's, body cameras, red light cameras, drones, GEO Mapping/Tracking, DNA technologies, not to mention statewide data visibility, awareness, and sharing through PA SuperCOBRA., our profession can do this job more efficiently, have more info at our fingertips, and stay one step ahead of the criminals.
Moving from server-based systems to cloud based systems has also opened up so many more possibilities for us. We are incredibly excited to be partnering with CODY on the next generation of their RMS software, Pathfinder RMS, as part of their limited release rollout group.
The move to Pathfinder RMS will transition us off of our servers and into the Microsoft Azure CJIS-secure cloud. This will provide enhanced security, FBI-mandated authentication processes for secure access, and eliminate the need for us to have internal servers which are expensive and need to be updated and/or replaced every few years. Plus, with the system being fully web-based, our officers and investigators will be able to access our RMS on a variety of devices wherever and whenever they need to. This will be a total game changer for us.
8. What do you value most about being the Chief of Police for Abington Township?
It has been an honor and a privilege for me to serve as the chief of police here in Abington because it provides me with an opportunity to serve the men and women of this department. I am so proud and humbled by the work that they do every day, and I know they put themselves at risk to protect and serve our great community. Because of this, the command staff and I need to do everything possible to make sure that they are properly trained, equipped, and protected as they do their jobs.
When I was sworn in as the chief of police, I promised my officers that I was there to implement policies and procedures that would protect them physically, emotionally, and against civil litigation. I also made it clear that we operate under the motto “Mission First and People Always” and they would be held accountable to our police code of ethics and our core values. We understand that there is nothing more important than integrity in policing, and we do everything that we can to ensure that we are not only doing things right but doing the right things.