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LEWISTOWN -- Adam Shope has spent 25 years in law enforcement. His career ranged from drug investigations to work with the U.S. Marshals Service. He also served as a SWAT negotiator.
Yet when he arrived at Mifflin County Regional Police, one of his first lessons had little to do with tactics or technology. It was about people.
For 12 days, Shope watched outgoing Chief John Chester work the phones and call on relationships built across Mifflin County during a quarter-century in local law enforcement.
"We’ll talk about a problem, he’ll jump on the phone and fix it," Shope said. "Because he knows this guy, and the fire chief, and the other police chief, and this community person."
Chester retires Sept. 11 after 25 years in law enforcement and 45 years in public service. Shope takes over a department with 17 officers and a younger roster. He knows the area, but he’s still learning the people and relationships that make the department work.
Shope grew up in Huntingdon County and spent his law enforcement career in the Harrisburg area. He said he had driven through Mifflin County nearly every weekend for 30 to 35 years while returning home. When he saw the chief’s position posted online, he applied.
"It's close to home," Shope said. "I decided that, on a whim, I found the position online and applied for it."
After 25 years, he felt ready for another challenge.
Mifflin County Regional Police serves a sprawling rural area where limited manpower makes foot and bike patrols difficult. Shope said that makes community relationships even more important.
"We can’t do the job without the community," Shope said. "Seventeen people cannot effectively police 17,000 people. The bonds in the community have to be there."
He wants officers visible at National Night Out and other community gatherings. Shope also mentioned visiting churches to talk about police work and how residents can help the department.
His first priority is strengthening the relationship between officers and the people they serve.
"We can’t do it on our own with 17 guys," Shope said. "So, getting the community involved, and number one, supporting the police, which I know they already do."
Chester understands that. He has spent much of his career in the same communities and said Shope's central Pennsylvania roots make him a good fit.
"He’s local, central Pennsylvania local," Chester said. "He understands the rural nature of our area."
Shope grew up in neighboring Huntingdon County, something Chester believes will help him understand the communities the department serves.
Staffing remains a challenge for police departments nationwide, Shope said, though he believes interest in law enforcement careers has begun to rebound.
When Chester took over for retiring Chief Andre French for what he knew would be his final year, the department was emerging from a period when recruiting officers had been difficult.
Chester considers rebuilding the department's staffing one of his proudest accomplishments.
"We’ve been able to hire quality people, good people, young people, and they’re committed to the community," Chester said.
That younger department now becomes Shope’s responsibility.
The department Shope inherits also has upgraded technology. He praised Chester for upgrades that include new body-worn cameras. Department computers have access to license plate readers, while patrol vehicles are equipped with cameras.
Technology, Chester said, has changed dramatically during his career. When he began, officers didn’t even carry cell phones. Reports and information that once depended heavily on paper now move through computers.
The basic job, however, remains familiar.
"You still enforce the laws of the commonwealth, the local ordinances," Chester said. "That hasn’t changed."
Communication within the department will be another priority for Shope. He said communication with officers must flow both ways. He wants them to know they can tell him what they need and where the department can improve.
"If we’re not communicating well amongst each other, we’re not going to communicate well out in the community," Shope said.
The transition has also shown Shope how much local knowledge is leaving with Chester and former Chief Andre French. Together, Chester said, they represent 50 years of experience.
Shope knows he can’t replace those relationships in 12 days.
"It’s going to take me a while to build those relationships because I don’t know those people," Shope said. "But I met a lot of people in the last 12 days. A lot of people."
For Chester, the departure closes a career in public service that began when he was 16. He may eventually take a part-time job, something he can do on his own terms, but after 25 years in law enforcement, Chester said the time had come.
Chester leaves the department better staffed than when he took over. Shope arrives with his own quarter-century of police experience but faces a different challenge: learning a community where Chester often knows exactly whom to call.
A year from now, Shope hopes residents see a department they trust when they need help.
"I want them to know when they call 9-1-1 that we’re going to respond, handle it professionally, with integrity and with honor," he said.
For Shope, that work starts with the relationships Chester spent years building.