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Struthers police chief to retire
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Bob Norris, 59, longtime Struthers police chief, stands near the city jail cell. He retires at the end of this month, ending a law-enforcement career that began in 1975.
By Jeanne Starmack
STRUTHERS
Police Chief Bob Norris is looking ahead to his retirement, but he’s not eager to share thoughts in a look back at his career.
“I’m going to leave that here,” he said as his last day, May 28, approaches.
Norris, 59, has been chief for 17 years, working his way up from his start as a patrol officer in 1975.
Some memories, he said, are good — for instance, “the general camaraderie.”
But some memories are not so good, he said, and he didn’t want to talk about his old cases.
“I liked the job,” he explained. “But there’s a price to pay, and you simply have to pay it.
“There’s a headful of memories you really wish would go away,” he said.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he went on. “There’s pleasure in doing the job and knowing it was done right. But the nature of our job — dealing with victims.”
There are some good memories, though, of his co-workers in the relatively quiet little city.
“We try real hard to keep it that way,” he said. “We got a good bunch of guys in this department. They’re out there pounding every day, looking every day,” he said of the efforts of his 16-member police force to prevent crime.
“I’ve worked with some pretty amazing people over the years,” he continued. “There’s a myriad of memories from those guys — learning more than I ever thought was possible from them.
“In my younger years, I learned from the old guys, and I’ve never been able to figure out — at what point in my career did I become an old guy?” he said.
He said he gave his retirement some thought. “I didn’t jump in at the spur of the moment, and I don’t envision missing anything.”
Norris is looking forward to spending time with his family. He and his wife, Sue, have a house in Huntingdon County, Pa., and he plans to “hit the streams” in the summers.
He plans to see more of his daughter and her husband; his son and his wife; and his granddaughter, Tori, 15.
He has no specific words of advice for whoever takes over for him, though he said he’ll spend a few weeks helping that person learn the job.
The next chief will be the highest scorer on a civil-service test out of the department’s four captains.
The test is set for May 14. Taking it will be Tom Skovira, Tim Roddy, Pat Bundy and Mike Leonard.