Mary Ravasio, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Mention the name of Police Chief David Graham in Elizabeth Township and those who know him will call him a tenacious investigator, a respected leader and a colorful character who’s never at a loss for words.
After 31 years on the township police force, Graham, 61, will hang up his holster and retire at the end of the year.
“He’s a policeman’s policeman ... with morals that border on sainthood,” said Deputy Chief Robert Wallace, a co-worker for 29 years, who described Graham’s memory as uncanny and investigative work as thorough. “He can pull names that haven’t crossed the police blotter in 25 years ... and he’s like a self-taught psychologist as an evaluator.”
Graham, a township resident, describes Elizabeth Township as a nice community where he has “met a lot of good people under bad circumstances.”
He joined the police force in 1973, when he was laid off during a maintenance shutdown at U.S. Steel Clairton Works. He said he told the civil service commission he wanted to become a police officer because he wanted to give something back to the community.
“They bought it and hired me,” he said with a laugh, “I meant it,” he added quickly.
During his tenure, Graham earned the nickname of “Holes,” because he seemed to step in or fall in so many of them while on the job.
“If there was one in the ground, he found it,” retired police Officer Ernie Lakovic said.
In the ' 80s, Graham was promoted to sergeant, in the ' 90s to lieutenant, then in 2000 as chief of the 16-member force. As chief, he expanded the DARE drug- resistance program to where there is an officer at Elizabeth Forward High School or Middle School five days a week. He increased the number of dogs in the police K-9 program from one to three, and doubled traffic control efforts.
“We had a good department before, we just kicked it up a notch,” he said.
The most rewarding part of the job has been solving big cases. One time, Graham broke up a burglary ring responsible for more than 90 burglaries in the township within one year.
The most difficult part of the job has been dealing with the deaths of children. Graham still remembers arriving at the scene where an 11-year-old girl was hit by a car and killed in 1976, the time in 1973 when five teenagers were killed in a car accident, and the deaths of four young people in two different speed-related accidents during the past year.
“You keep wondering why,” said Graham. And every year at prom time he thinks, “Tonight’s the prom, I sure hope we get them all back tomorrow.”
Before retiring, Graham hopes to enroll township students in the Teen Safety 500 program. It’s a safe driving program sponsored by Georgia Pacific, where high schools compete against each other to log the most accident-free and citation-free miles. The winning school receives cash and prizes from Georgia Pacific and maybe a visit from a celebrity race car driver.
Graham won’t have trouble keeping busy in retirement, with plans for volunteer work and a long “honey do” list from his wife of 37 years, Kathy. He also plans to do more traveling.
“Going back to Wyoming, putting my feet up on the rail and watching the snow melt sounds good to me.” Mary Ravasio is a freelance writer.