蒙哥马利县社区学院 市警察学院 学员Lt. 罗德里克Fancher already knows a thing or two about crime fighting. He spent more than nine years working in the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office 作为一名检察官.

The 35-year-old husband and father of two and Willow Grove native, realized police work was his true calling, though, and decided to trade life in the court room for 警徽. He’s already been hired by the Upper Merion Township Police Department 他是一名巡警，今年1月宣誓就职. 他计划开始工作 there this summer after he completes the Academy and passes the Municipal Police Officers’ 教育训练委员会考试.

For Fancher, a 2006 Upper Moreland High School graduate, police work has been a passion that he has wanted to pursue since he was a junior at Franklin and Marshall College. He graduated as a philosophy major but knew a career in law enforcement was what he 他的人生真的有什么意义吗.

服务的召唤

“Being in Boy Scouts and doing Eagle Scout projects, there’s a lot of community service 参与其中，”范彻说. “I was interested in working with the community and serving 公众.”

After graduating college, Fancher applied to become a police officer in his hometown. At the height of the recession though, he can remember competing against more than 1400名申请者.

“I remember the line wrapping all the way around the parking lot,” 他说.

While he made it far in the process, he wasn’t selected, so he decided to pursue a 转而当律师. He took the Law School Admission Test and began studying 2011年8月在德雷塞尔大学法学院学习. 他在蒙哥马利实习 County District Attorney’s Office for two years beginning in the summer of 2012, before landing a position there as an assistant district attorney after graduation. 他工作 there for nine years but the desire to become a police officer never left.

By the fall of 2021, protests against police brutality saw officers nationwide leave 警察部队. Fancher believed a change could happen if good people joined the 警察部队.

“他们需要的只是好人. 如果好人成为好警察， there shouldn’t be these complaints,” 他说 he remembered thinking. “我想我是 一个好人. 我觉得我很聪明. 我想我明白了 需要.”

他的妻子是一名辩护律师，她支持他的决定. 2021年12月，他填写了表格 an application to join the Upper Merion Police Department but never 提交ted it. He had second thoughts and waited another year until he heard from a friend who worked 在那个部门有职位空缺.

“I was like man, Upper Merion is a premiere police department in Montgomery County,” 他说. “They’re professional, they have integrity, they have a culture that’s supportive 还有一个非常支持他们的社区.”

In July 2023 he applied for a position and got the job. 然后范彻不得不告诉区 律师事务所. 斯蒂尔，他要走了. 值得赞扬的是，斯蒂尔理解了.

“他非常支持我，”范彻说. “他说，‘我知道你一直都是这样 想做的事. 那太好了. 这是一个巨大的飞跃. 是安全的.’”

班级第一名

After he was sworn in this past January, he began studying at MCCC’s Police Academy. 他还清楚地记得刚来的几天.

“我试图隐藏我的背景，”他说. “我想被当作普通人对待. I didn’t want to be treated special by anybody, mostly the instructors or fellow students. 我想成为他们中的一员.”

That plan lasted one day, as an instructor asked the class if anyone had a law degree 直勾勾地看着范彻.

“教室里传来一阵喘息声，”他说. “我记得人们坐着 在我旁边发出声音.”

While there have been times here Fancher said his classmates or instructors will defer to him for legal expertise, 他说 he’s still learning a lot from the Police Academy. Things like tactics, where to position your body during a routine traffic stop, thoroughly searching someone for weapons after they’re placed in handcuffs and other skills a police officer needs to know are all areas Fancher said he’s starting from scratch 就像他的学员同伴一样.

“I couldn’t be happier with the educational materials put together,” 他说. “这是 obviously standardized by MPOETC, but the instructors are real police officers with real experience so they interweb their stories with the lessons. 这才是真正的 最重要和最有帮助的.”  

Fancher is on track to become the valedictorian of his class and his instructors say 他是个天生的领袖.  

“I had high expectations of him before he started the Academy and he has exceeded them,” said Georgette Hill, Director of the 市警察学院. “他是个天才 班干部谦虚. Before making him class leader, I spoke with him about it. He offered to give someone else the experience as a leader, since he has had many 在他的职业生涯中担任领导职务. 我决定让他当班长是因为 I had the utmost confidence in him to manage the class well. 他做得很好 到目前为止.”

着眼未来

After graduating from the Police Academy, Fancher will be on probation with Upper 在他成为正式巡警之前，他在梅里恩待了一年. 他希望有一天能成为一名 detective in the department, but right now is focused on being the best patrol officer 他可以.

“我们将拭目以待，”他说.

While he was sad to leave the District Attorney’s Office, Fancher said he never wanted to regret the decision to follow his biggest passion in life.

“这是我内心的某种东西，”他说. “我不想老了之后后悔没有跟随 这条路. I’m just going to take the leap and I’m sorry to have to leave the office, 但警察工作是第一位的.”