Burnside Police Chief Glover to step down

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March 30, 2009

By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Mon Mar 30, 2009, 06:59 PM EDT

Burnside — One gets the feeling that it won’t be easy to pry Eddie Glover off the streets of Burnside.

When a reporter calls Glover to take a photograph of the veteran local lawman on a rainy afternoon, the current Burnside Police Chief isn’t sitting idly behind a desk in his office, or lounging around his house. He’s behind the wheel of his cruiser, a few streets away from the police department headquarters, actively watching over the city entrusted to his care.

There is no hint that he finds such activity tedious; in fact, once arrived, Glover stares out into the gray drizzle and his voice becomes distant, as if he wishes he didn’t have to say what he’s about to declare.

“I just felt like it was time,” said Glover. “Time to hang it up.”

Glover was referring to his impending retirement. After 31 years in Pulaski County law enforcement — including stints in the Sheriff’s Office and both Somerset and Ferguson Police Departments — Glover is handing in his badge for the leisurely life sometime in the next few months, likely in July.

But before he goes, Glover received one last piece of recognition for his fine work on behalf of Burnside.

Kentucky Law Enforcement, a quarterly periodical published by the Kentucky Justice and Safety Cabinet which recognizes the best and brightest of the Thin Blue Line across the Commonwealth, featured Glover in the Spring 2009 edition.

Glover’s spotlight is unique — larger police departments and law agencies in more heavily populated communities had gotten this kind of treatment from the magazine, but to Glover’s understanding, Burnside was the first small department to warrant a ride-along visit from one of the publication’s writers.

“I was off and Bruce (Blevins, Burnside Asst. Police Chief) called me wanting to know if we’d be interested in doing the article,” said Glover, before adding with a chuckle, “Any good publicity you can get, get it, because the bad will always follow you.”

In this case, the “good publicity” followed Glover on a ride through town, documenting life in the sleepy lakefront community. It’s considerably less sleepy than in the past, however; since taking the reins half a decade ago, Glover has presided over a lot of change in the Burnside landscape, and that of Pulaski as a whole.

In Glover’s time, he’s seen the double-edged sword of alcohol sales come to his community. The plus for him is the funding boost for his department — since the alcohol sales tax goes to benefit Burnside Police, money has been available for more officers (as many as five at one point, before Officer Philip Woodall’s recent retirement) and upgraded equipment. The downside is that there’s a whole new set of concerns that no other agency in Pulaski County deals with as closely.

The growth of Burnside through annexation and changes to local roadways have also made life interesting — the partial clover interchange at the crossing of U.S. 27, Ky. 90 and Ky. 1247 has created a speed trap that Glover has recently warned against drivers exploiting.

All of this certainly makes Glover noteworthy among his small-city peers. Glover said he was honored by the decision to feature him in the magazine, but true to form wouldn’t take all the credit for himself.

“We try to be a friendly police, a media-oriented police,” said Glover. “I couldn’t do a thing without all the good people I have working for me.”

This isn’t Glover’s first such honor. In 2007, Glover was nominated for the “America’s Most Wanted All-Stars,” a program sponsored by the popular TV show designed to honor accomplished law enforcement officers around the country.

That’s just one of the highlights of Glover’s career, which saw a close friendship with the late Sheriff Sam Catron, a meeting with President George W. Bush (before he was in office), and much more.

“I’ve seen things that people wouldn’t believe,” said Glover. “I’ve enjoyed it for the most part. ... It’s been an honor to serve Pulaski Countains.

Burnside Mayor Chuck Fourman will hate to lose the man who keeps the city’s safety under his hand.

“It’s been great to work with (Glover),” said Fourman. “He’s brought a lot to the department. They (Glover and Woodall) set things in motion for this city, so that whenever he hire someone to take his place, they can pick up and go.”

No decision has been made yet on a replacement. Fourman said the city will start looking at candidates once Glover sets an official date of retirement.

Glover began his career on November 1, 1978, the first hire former Somerset Police Chief Vertree Jones made to the department. Glover worked there 21 years, then served the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department and also looked over the city of Ferguson — with one prior retirement already wedged in there after the Somerset era.

But Glover couldn’t stay away. In over five years at Burnside, Glover helped secure new radar equipment, in-car cameras, cruisers, body armor and sidearms through grants and the alcohol tax funding. He’s proud of these accomplishments, and the ability to leave Burnside in better shape than he found it.

“When I first started in Burnside, we lacked a lot,” said Glover. “I made a list of things I wanted us to have before I left — better weapons, better radio equipment, new radars. We got to end of that list, and we still need more stuff, but we’re at the top of the mountain now. I accomplished what I set out to do.”

And would he do it all again if he could? Absolutely he would, he says — in a heartbeat.

“It’s been an honor to serve Pulaski Countains,” said Glover. “The council and mayors I’ve worked for have all been supportive. ... I’ve enjoyed serving the people of Burnside and I wish them nothing but the best of luck. It’s been a pleasure.”

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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