State Police Day remembers troopers killed in line of duty
BUTLER TWP — It was a day to remember the fallen. It was also a day to recognize those on duty.
It was State Police Day at the Troop D headquarters Thursday in Butler Township.
Capt. Steve Ignatz, troop commander, presided over the annual ceremony that commemorates the state police — now in its 114th year — and pays tribute to the 98 troopers killed in the line of duty.
“Every year at this time, we remember all troopers who have died in the line of duty,” Ignatz said in his address to those in attendance, “and we pray their names are the last to be remembered as those who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Attending were active duty and retired troopers, local law enforcement officers, district attorneys from Butler and other counties and politicians.
Ignatz recognized the two dozen uniformed troopers flanked to his right, and offered them a message.
“Remember the men and women who have worn that uniform before you,” he said. “You worked hard to earn that uniform. Wear it with dignity and pride, just as those men and women did. Always do the right thing for the right reasons.”
Delivering a bit of a history lesson, Ignatz noted the barracks was originally located in Punxsutawney before moving to its current home off New Castle Road on the site of the former Duffy Farm in 1911.
The state police department started with just 228 troopers. Today, its ranks number about 1,600.
A lot has changed, Ignatz said, and a lot hasn't. The one constant has been the challenge the job poses.
Troopers, he said, “must respond in a moment's notice to incidents that are still in progress where they have to make split-second decisions that may have broad implications.”
The police, Ignatz said, can be the difference between an ordered society and lawlessness.
“The troopers of today as they were in 1905 are here to offer an outstretched hand to anyone who may need help,” he said. “We're also here to offer a reluctant fist for those who don't want to obey the laws of a civilized society.”
He cited “resolve and commitment” as the hallmarks of state police and referred to several examples in which those traits were exemplified.One such example close to home involved the murder of a beloved police chief and the suspect who remained on the FBI's “most wanted” list for decades.“Resolve like that displayed by Trooper Jim Poydence, who assumed the Saxonburg Police Chief Gregory Adams homicide case on a terrible December day in 1980,” Ignatz said, “all the way to Cpl. Chris Birckbichler and Trooper Max DeLuca, who were there in Massachusetts when Donald Eugene Webb's rotting corpse was dug up in 2017 in the yard of his wife's home.”During the ceremony, Birckbichler, a patrol supervisor at the Mercer station, and Lt. Joseph Glover, the troop's patrol section commander, placed a wreath at a memorial dedicated to the 10 fallen state police officers from Troop D.“Truly,” Ignatz said, “Troop D has paid a very high price for the protection of our fellow Pennsylvanians.”Butler Township police Lt. Matthew Pearson and Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger were among those in the crowd. Before the ceremony, they talked about the gravity of being there.“We work hand-in-hand together,” said Pearson, referring to his department and state police. “So, we're out here to show support.”“They have the hardest job on the face of the earth,” Goldinger said of the police. “They face danger every time they come on duty — and without them, who knows what our society would be like? So, it's important to recognize them and those who have fallen in the line of duty.”
