Chief Lawson honored by Lakewood Community Leaders

Throughout your career, you have taught and guided others leading by example as well as by office with honesty, courage, and true integrity of purpose. May your future path be one of joy, continued success, and utmost personal fulfillment. You will always be a treasured friend of the community and a role model for all who are privileged to know you. July 27, 2016 for Lakewood VA on behalf of the Lakewood community. First of all, I'd like to thank everybody for coming today out this sa here. Much appreciated already. Ready for office? Hey, one second. One second. Oh, the camera's really touching. Um, I know a lot of chief have big retirement dinners and walkouts and it wasn't me. I I really didn't want this that, but this this means uh more to me than anything. Uh, you know, 35 years in Lakewood tennis chief. Um, Cutler hit it on the head. Um, I embrace the community. Um all of my um my a lot of my initiatives were to serve the community and in all communities of Lakewood, but you know the Orthodox community is by far the largest and um you know I felt it was my responsibility to um to improve things in labor. In fact, uh my next door neighbor, one of my neighbors, one of my neighbors is here, Shragi Pinter. Um my next door neighbor is a Calver and he once said to me, you know, chief, if they didn't, if if if you weren't made chief, they'd have to go out and find somebody like you to to run the police department. And I and I really appreciated his kind words. Um to me, this was so much more than a job. Um for my last 10 years as chief, um you know, this was my heart. This was my soul. um to make things better for the people in Lakewood to ensure their safety. Um not only as chief of police, but you know, I've been the OEM coordinator for Lakewood for even longer than that. Uh that was one of the jobs one of the public safety directors gave me as he lung job on job on top of jobs and uh supervisor of traffic and safety, internal affairs at the detective bureau. And when I said, "What are you doing?" He says, "This will make you better. This will make you better." And it did. It did. it gave me a much broader picture of the uh the police department and and how it functioned. Uh and that was public safety director uh Mark Darth Dorsy from Philadelphia who was an outstanding leader. Uh then we went downhill from there. But I'm talking I don't blame anybody. So I I I really just like to uh it's so so nice to see all my colleagues and and my good friends here. Um it's really hard for me. Um I've had a great career and um um Captain Meyer, soon to be Chief Meyer um has been on the department for 30 years. Um you know at the time when he was in patrol and he put in his dues. He worked I think probably a decade on the midnight shift. So he knows patrol pretty well and uh you know he's a wounded veteran having shot in that entry we made on McKenzie. So he he's tried and true and this this will be in my mind a seamless transition because when he came over to administration, he worked under Deputy Chief Kapper and and myself for the last three years since Chief Kapper retired and mentored him and and I'm very confident that he has the knowledge and the ability to go forward in a seamless manner. So I I don't think there'll be uh a hiccup here. I I really don't. So uh in closing, I'd just like to uh to thank everybody. Uh I couldn't have done this without your support from many of the people in this room from from the township of Kinman to to to the rabbis to the community leaders. I have so many friends close friends um in the community especially rabbis that uh you know we have near and dear friendships. It means a lot to me. So um in closing um I just wish like u wish her best wishes and uh say shalom. [Applause] Again, Mr. Food is culture.