On the beat with the Chief

There was a lot of enthusiasm in the conversation the chief had with Ramazan Ugurlu, owner of the Village Plaza Tailoring and Dry Cleaning.

On the beat
with the Chief

Ogden Police Chief Doug Nordquist has a unique habit, one he started when he became the Police Chief three years ago. He does a two-hour walkabout in the village of Spencerport every Friday from 10 a.m. to noon. I accomplished him for part of his walk on August 3 and noted the rapport the Chief has with the merchants and service providers. He walks into a business establishment, addresses the owner by their first name and asks how things are going. Some bantering generally results and it's obvious that he has established a good relationship with business owners in the village. It helps that all the businesses seem to be doing well. He generally ends the discussion with a question: "Anything I can do to help you?" On this day the only problem seemed to be with a rash of graffiti which is being addressed. Chief Nordquist said: "I just like to be out and about in the community. I've done it every Friday since I started in June of 2004 and I encourage my officers to spend at least 20 minutes a day doing the same thing."

Photos and text by Walter Horylev