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Longtime Struthers detective comes out of retirement, works part time in Campbell
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
CAMPBELL
Even after spending 37 years with the Struthers Police Department, Jeff Pantall insists that he wouldn’t trade one day of his career in law enforcement for anything.
And though he retired from the department only a little more than a year and a half ago, Pantall found that he couldn’t stay away for long.
About two months ago, Pantall returned to detective work — albeit on a part-time basis, and with the Campbell Police Department. It so far hasn’t been too much different for the 1967 graduate of Struthers High School and lifelong Como Street resident, who joked that he hasn’t moved more than 200 yards in his entire life.
“Every town has their characters, but policing is policing,” Pantall said. “The names are different, but the work is just about the same.”
Pantall typically works about 24 hours a week with the Campbell Police Department, and often on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The city’s police department has its own detective — Kevin Sferra — so Pantall assists him “with whatever he needs assistance on,” he said.
Police Chief Drew Rauzan said the phone call to find out if Pantall “had any inkling of doing this job” was one of the very first he made after taking over as chief. Pantall had long been someone that Rauzan could turn to if he ever needed advice, based upon his years of quality investigative experience.
Rauzan mentioned, too, that he doesn’t accept applications for the department’s part-time officers. Instead, he scouts them out, gauging how well a particular individual could represent the Campbell Police Department — something Rauzan said he’s quite conscious of.
“But I wonder if I can represent Jeff,” Rauzan said. “I now press my shirts a little tighter. He instantly makes us a better department.”
“I keep reminding him that I’m old, and that I’m not sure how long this marriage will last,” added Pantall, laughing.
Pantall noted that law enforcement has “gotten a little faster,” thanks to technology, since he began his career. The basics, however, have remained the same. A detective always wants to solve every case that is handed to him, for example, but it’s not always possible.
“If it’s your crime, it’s the most important crime in the world,” Pantall said. “I want people, when they’re walking away, to say, ‘They didn’t catch the guy, but doggone it, they sure tried.’”
Pantall was appointed to the Struthers Police Department on Jan. 17, 1975, after serving for four years in the Navy and briefly working in the city’s steel mills, which he disliked. He remained on patrol for 16 years, until his move to the department’s detective bureau, and that’s where he stayed until his retirement March 15, 2012.
The work can sometimes get a bit overwhelming, Pantall said, adding that he wouldn’t have stuck with it for almost four decades if he didn’t enjoy it thoroughly.
“You have to come into it with the right attitude,” Pantall said. “I knew I wouldn’t get rich, and I haven’t. But it sure beats putting hubcaps on.”