Tuesday morning was bittersweet for Lansdale Borough Police, as the department said their farewell to Officer James Owens as he heads into a well-deserved retirement.
“The departure of Ofc. Owens leaves big shoes to fill,” said Mike Trail, Lansdale Borough Police Chief. “It was an honor working with him and we wish him well as he embarks on a new chapter in his life.”
Owens, a 27-year veteran of the force, joined the Lansdale Borough Police Department on April 19, 1993. In the time since, Owens served in a variety of roles including bike patrol, field training officer and a member of the Montgomery County Municipal Drug Task Force.
The retirement ceremony began at 8 a.m. as Lansdale Police vehicles — joined by others from neighboring police departments — took Owens on a traditional “last ride” through the borough, marking his final patrol as a police officer.
About 15 minutes later, the ride concluded by passing under a large American flag, which was hung outside of Borough Hall by two trucks from the Fairmount Fire Company.
After arriving, Owens was greeted by friends, family and colleagues, as well as numerous borough and elected officials. Inside of Borough Hall, Owens received proclamations and recognition from state Sen. Bob Mensch, state Rep. Steve Malagari and Lansdale Mayor Garry Herbert, as well as his retirement shield and identification from Chief Trail.
Owens, who received 16 departmental citations of merit over the course of his career and was named the department’s Officer of the Year in 2017, said that he hadn’t made any big plans for his retirement, yet. But in the interim, he said he wants to focus on being a grandfather and spend some time fishing and cycling.
“Lansdale has been a great place to work,” said Owens. “I want to thank the borough residents, borough council and borough management for giving me such a great opportunity to work as a police officer for all of these years. I look around and I’m actually humbled and honored to see all these guys that I’ve worked with. This is a great police department, and the surrounding departments also. It’s been an honor.”
See also:
Lansdale Police Hold 2nd Annual Recognition And Awards Ceremony
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