It's a new day on the job Monday for state police Maj. Steve Ignatz.

Fresh off his promotion at a Saturday ceremony, the 57-year-old Ignatz began his new assignment as executive director of the state police Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission in Harrisburg.

On Friday, he left his former post as commander of Butler-based Troop D, a position he held since July 2014.

“I like the people of Butler County and the Troop D area immensely,” Ignatz said from his office at the barracks in Butler Township during a kind of exit interview Wednesday.

“Specifically at Butler headquarters,” he said, “I've liked working with the people. We have a lot of great personalities here. They do a good job day in and day out.”

Before heading onto this latest assignment. Ignatz, who lives in Manor Township, Armstrong County, reflected on his nearly four-decade police career — 35 of those years with the state police

Childhood aspiration

For Ignatz, born and raised in Leechburg, Armstrong County, being a policeman is all he wanted to be since grade school.

He flashed back to one day playing outside, he was about 8 years old, and seeing a state police car drive down the street.

“The trooper got out. I remember he had the big boots on, big antenna on the car, and I thought, 'Wow, look at that guy,' ” Ignatz said, smiling. “That was impressive. It was a lasting impression.”

A few years later, he attended the state police Camp Cadet, a summer camp that gives youths a sense of what being a trooper is about. The camp sealed his conviction to be a cop.

In 1982, Ignatz was hired as a part-time officer with the Leechburg Police Department. By then, he also had caught the eye of then-Gilpin Township Police Chief Butch Roofner.

“I knew Steve and his family when I was a police officer working for Leechburg police,” Roofner said. “I knew he was levelheaded and had a good head on his shoulders.”

Throw in other qualities like respectful, thoughtful and professional, and Roofner in 1982 hired Ignatz as a part-time officer in Gilpin Township's small police force.

It was one of his best decisions.

“When I went on vacation,” Roofner recalled, “I would leave Steve in charge, and I knew he could handle any situation. He knew who to call and what to do.”

Trooper Ignatz

In 1985, Ignatz would attain his childhood dream after graduating from the State Police Academy in Hershey and becoming a trooper. His first stint was at the Franklin station, working in the patrol unit.

His next assignment in 1987 was like a homecoming, serving at the Kittaning station. He mostly worked patrol, a beat he relished.

“There was always something different going on,” Ignatz said. “I got to interact with the public. I got to work with the municipal officers closely, which is something I've always liked. There's always a sense of accomplishment of being in patrol.”

He was promoted in 1992 to corporal, and reassigned to the Turnpike headquarters at Highspire in Dauphin County, where he worked at the communications center.

His first landing in Butler would come about 13 months later when he was assigned as a patrol supervisor. He stayed here for a year before being transferred back to Kittanning in the same position.

Climbing the ladder

Ignatz continued rising in the ranks, earning sergeant in 1999, and becoming patrol unit supervisor first at Troop H, Harrisburg, and then at Troop D again, this time at the Beaver station.

He eventually was back at the troop's Butler headquarters, serving in the staff services unit. His duties were to take care of the facilities, troop and buildings, such as ordering supplies, uniforms and the like.

“Not a lot of police work. It was a lot of administrative duties,” he said. “It gave me some insight into how the department ran on the inside.

Around 2000, Ignatz was assigned as crime unit supervisor at the Butler station, and a year half later in the same position at the Kittanning station.

“When you're the crime unit supervisor,” he said, “you're looking at statistics and trying to figure out what's going on. Are there patterns to crimes? What are we doing to rectify the situation?”

In 2007, he was promoted to lieutenant, and reassigned to Harrisburg as commander of the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network, or CLEAN.

The network is used by Pennsylvania criminal justice agencies to access driver's license and motor vehicle data, state criminal history records including Protection from Abuse orders, and information on stolen cars and guns and people wanted on warrants.

While working there, his mother became ill and, to help take care of her, he took the position as station commander at New Castle.

Commander in Butler

His next assignment would come around 2009 when he was named crime unit commander in Butler. His duties were supervising the crime units across the troop, the vice unit, fire marshals and forensic services officers.

“It's a pretty big responsibility,” he acknowledged. “They do a lot of important stuff that's crucial for investigations.”

Ignatz's promotion to captain came in 2013, and with it he became commander of Troop E Erie. In July 2014, he was named Troop D commander.

A typical day, he explained, included reviewing the troop's activity report over the previous 24 hours. He would connect by email with the troopers handling cases, and he'd call the station commanders “to see how things are going or to see if they need anything or if there are any issues.”

Answering complaints, from civilians and other police agencies, was another part of the job.

“It's not a perfect world,” Ignatz said. “People are upset we can't solve all the crime. That's just unfortunately the way it is. It's not for a lack of trying. The people here work extremely diligently, and they truly care about the public.”

DUI arrests a priority

Troop D, Ignatz noted, takes a lot of pride in DUI enforcement. The troop's DUI arrests always seem at or near the top of all the troops in the state.

“That's one thing we can do to make Pennsylvania safer,” he said, “get a drunk driver off the road. We never know how many people we're saving from getting killed or hurt in an accident.”

He said he tried to make it a point to praise troopers for their DUI arrests.

“He's been personally very supportive of my DUI enforcement efforts,” said Trooper Philip Treadway of Troop D, Butler, who was among a select number of troopers and local police officers statewide to be honored last year with the coveted Top Gun Award by the Pennsylvania DUI Association.

“It's good to know that the troop commander has a personal interest in the mission (of DUI enforcement),” Treadway said

Capt. Charles “Chuck” Gonglik, a native of Canonsburg, Washington County, has succeeded Ignatz as Troop D commander. He, too, was promoted to his current rank Saturday.

Gonglik most recently served as station commander at Belle Vernon in Westmoreland County.

New chapter

Ignatz said he doesn't know what to expect in his new position, but he welcomes the next challenge in his career.

Despite his new job, he will continue to live in Manor Township — his home for 30 years — with his wife, Diana.

The couple has three sons, Kendall, 31, a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps in North Carolina; Brendon, 28, also of Manor, a nurse/ anesthesiologist at Butler Memorial Hospital; and Christopher, 26, of Harrisburg, an internal medicine physician for UPMC

While in Harrisburg for his job, Ignatz plans to stay with his youngest son, and travel home for weekends.

Trooper DuWayne Baird, a Troop D fire marshal, said he would miss Ignatz, who he described as a father figure: “When he spoke, we listened.”

Baird said Ignatz had confidence in the troopers, and he left them do their jobs. “But,” the trooper added, “he expected us to work hard and present ourselves well.

“He was about image,” Baird said, “and state police tradition. He's old school.”