Looking back at the past decade, Mount Hope Police Chief Paul Rickard said he accomplished what he had set out to do—transform the department into a more professional operation.
He said he improved almost every facet of the police department in the small rural town in upstate New York, from hiring, training, and policy to infrastructure and technology.
Some changes can be seen by the public, such as computers in patrol cars; others are hidden inside the police building, like a break room for officers to recharge.
Among all the efforts, he said he is most proud of those done to build community relationships.
“The police are the community, and the community are the police—Sir Robert Peel said that when he created modern police in England,” Rickard said. “I think that’s true and really what I strive to do.”
The grandson of a police officer and son of a teacher, Rickard grew up wanting to help people and serve the community, he said.
After serving over 20 years at the Middletown Police Department and climbing the ranks to the position of lieutenant, he retired, only to become police chief of Mount Hope in 2010.
“I like being active, I like being busy, and I wanted to give back to the community I live in, my kids go to school in, and my family has been a part of for decades,” he said.
“I didn’t do it for the money; it was about community service,” he added.
A Better Police Department
When Rickard took the helm, female and male officers took turns using the same locker room and had no dedicated break room to eat lunch or relax.
He got support from the town supervisor and board to construct a female locker room and turn an all-purpose space into a cozy break room in the police building.
Outside the building, he had a garage built so vehicles could stay inside during bad weather.
To boost efficiency, he equipped each patrol car with computers so information could be directly recorded into the department system as officers work in the field; he also got funding for a $30,000 fingerprinting machine connected with the state system for faster verification.
As for the police force, he pushed for the hiring of full-time officers for better community protection.
“It gives you more continuity and better coverage [as opposed to a complete part-time force,]” he said, adding that the increasingly higher training requirements also demand full-time commitment.
The department currently has two full-time officers and around 15 part-timers.
In terms of firearms training, he added hours and complexity, having officers practice tactical moves such as bailing out of a car, taking cover, and various shooting skills.
He also brought in use-of-force training by national expert Eric Daigle, wellness training by Middletown officer Sarah Coletti, and leadership training by Andrew Marotta from Port Jervis.
“I think if you learn about yourself, learn how to be a leader and how to be a good partner, then you can take those things and apply them across your life,” Rickard said. “It’s going to make you a better person, and you are going to be a better police officer.”
Despite being in a quiet rural town, Rickard stayed abreast of new developments in the profession through organizations such as the International Association of Police Chiefs (IACP), he said.
Years before the police bodycam movement reached small towns like Mount Hope, he brought a few samples from an IACP meeting for his officers to try out.
He also hired national police policy firm Lexipol to review the department’s manual books following major state criminal justice laws to ensure compliance.
“If something bad happened, nobody [would care] if you were a police force in a small town; all they care about is if you are performing on a professional basis, using the latest police techniques and procedures,” he said.
Community and Partnership
When it comes to community engagement, Rickard created a department website, set up a Facebook page, and got a “Coffee with the Chief” program going.
The program featured a monthly conversation between him and a community guest, such as town supervisors, school administrators, and faith leaders.
In 2019, he hosted the town’s first National Night Out event in Otisville with basketball games, popcorn, and a dunk tank featuring members of the police department.
National Night Out is an annual event celebrated by police agencies nationwide to foster better community-police relationships and build neighborhood camaraderie.
About five years ago, Rickard began to partner with Hope Not Handcuffs Hudson Valley to help people who committed low-level crimes out of drug addiction.
The organization, founded by Annette Kahrs, has an army of hundreds of volunteers working with officers to get people struggling with addiction to treatment centers.
Rickard welcomed the approach out of an understanding that police cannot arrest their way out of the drug epidemic and that a multi-faceted solution is needed.
He said he knew it because he had done it the old way.
In the 1980s, when the crack epidemic swept the nation, he joined the Middletown police force and later became a narcotics officer and sergeant.
“We just worried about getting people off the streets and into jail,” he said. “But it never ended. It was that perpetual—we arrested you, and then the next person came along.”
“Now we know a little bit more about addiction and the chemical reactions it causes in our brains, and we are coming to the realization that we are going to offer you treatment at the same time,” he said.
“You might not be successful today and relapse in recovery. We understand it might take a few times for you to stay safe and healthy in the long run,” he added.
In his former capacity as president of the Police Chiefs Association of Orange County, he worked with Hope Not Handcuffs to host training at local police agencies with the help of a county grant.
New Role
Following his retirement in February, Rickard assumed the role of the director of Hope Not Handcuffs Hudson Valley at the beginning of March.
He said he hopes to build a closer relationship between the program and law enforcement agencies in the area to help more people struggling with addiction.
