ADAMS TWP — Police Chief Bill Westerman, who started his career in the township in the road department, will retire next month after 33 years.

“I for one am really going to miss him,” said Linda Lees, who is the township supervisor in charge of police. “He treated everyone well and everyone likes him.

“It’s going to be a sad day on Jan. 15.”

Westerman started in Adams as a part-time patrolman on Christmas Day in 1982. He also worked full time on the township road crew until 1987, when he was hired full time in the police department.

“There were four officers then, and Ken McAlpine was chief,” Westerman recalled.

He was promoted to assistant chief in the early 1990s, and to chief in the mid-1990s.

Westerman said the job was different when he started because only 3,000 people called the township home. There are now more than 13,000 residents.

In 1982, police incidents were few and far between, Westerman said, and the biggest part of the job was traffic control.

Westerman recalls chasing emus and llamas that had escaped their enclosures, as well as the more grisly incidents over the years.

“All the crashes and fatalities, that kind of stuff sort of sticks in the back of your mind,” Westerman said. “They’re the unpleasantries of the job.”

Asked his favorite part of the job, Westerman fondly recalled working with troubled youth at the Mars School District with then-high school principal Anna Saker.

“We did a lot with the high school, working with some of the kids,” Westerman said.

Former Mars Superintendent William Pettigrew, who retired in 2013 after 24 years, was sad to hear Westerman had decided to retire.

“I think Chief Westerman will be very difficult to replace,” Pettigrew said. “He was a great friend of education, and he was always considerate and concerned about the kids.”

Westerman, who leads a police force of eight full-time and nine part-time officers, said he is proud of the work he did to help rehabilitate some of the district’s troubled youth.

“We had a couple runaways that ended up being babysitters for my own kids,” Westerman said.

He also looks back fondly on his long association with his late assistant police chief, Ed Brooks, who died in 2009 of a heart attack.

“Ed Brooks was special,” Westerman said. “He and I went to police academy together in Beaver County.”

The chief also will miss the township supervisors, two of whom were in office when he was hired as a patrolman.

“They’re more like friends than they are bosses,” Westerman said. “I’ve gotten along great with all of them.”

Lees has been the supervisor in charge of police for 20 years and was familiar with Westerman when her father served on the board of supervisors.

“Bill has seen a lot of growth in the township, and so he has seen the personality of the township change,” Lees said.

“He’s seen people moving in who are different from us old farmers.”

She said Westerman has handled every transition with excellence and has nobly represented the municipality.

“He just loves to show off Adams Township,” Lees said. “He’s a good guy.”

For his part, Westerman said he will do a little fishing and traveling during retirement, but he is most looking forward to spending more time with his wife and four grandchildren.

“It’s been a nice ride,” Westerman said of his years of service in the township. “It’s really been interesting, and I’ve learned a lot and met a whole lot of nice people.

“But it’s time for the younger kids to take over this job.”