William Och’s law enforcement life has come full circle, as the former Edgeworth part-time patrolman who went to work in law enforcement in another county and state was recently promoted as the borough’s new police chief.
He takes over for John Burlett, who officially retired at the start of this month after 47 years in law enforcement.
“It really does feel like coming back home,” Och said. “With my dad teaching down here, I felt a strong sense of community and ties to the Quaker Valley area. I would have never thought in 1994, as a 23-year-old kid new to law enforcement, that I would have an opportunity to lead a department in Quaker Valley. The stars really did align.
“I think anybody who works in law enforcement down here on the Route 65 corridor realizes what a unique and special community Edgeworth is.”
Council voted 6-0 to approve a three-year contract with Och on May 19. His pay rate is going from $57.49 per hour to a salary of $129,250 the first year, $133,125 next year and $137,115 in 2028.
Councilwoman Katherine Larsen was absent. Mayor Gary Smith administered the oath of office.
The borough is about 1.6-square miles. It has six full-time police officers, including the chief. There are no part-timers.
Och, 54, of Cranberry, started his law enforcement career in the mid-1990s working part-time for Edgeworth, Sewickley, Leetsdale and Bell Acres.
He said police work was very competitive at the time and he needed to work for multiple departments for the hours to make ends meet.
Och left the Quaker Valley area in 1998 for a full-time job in Mentor, Ohio.
He returned to Western Pennsylvania in 2001 and worked for the Cranberry Police Department for nearly 22 years, retiring as a sergeant in February 2023.
Edgeworth hired him full-time the following month and promoted him to lieutenant by the end of that year.
He is an active shooter/violent intruder instructor, a firearms instructor, a lead instructor for the PA DUI Association and a drug recognition expert.
There are about 240 drug recognition experts in the state. They are usually called upon when an officer stops someone and suspects a person to be under the influence of something other than alcohol.
Och also ran the Butler County DUI Task Force for about 15 years.
He said seeing a multitude of crashes throughout his career made him passionate about DUI enforcement and stopping tragedies from happening.
Och is also an advocate for technology and one of the driving forces behind Edgeworth installing automatic license plate readers in patrol cars in recent years. The equipment makes it easier for officers to identify stolen, expired or suspended license plates and automatically populate information into police computers.
Family foundation
Och grew up in Rochester, Beaver County. However, he spent his senior year in Kentucky, graduating from Apollo High School in Owensboro in 1989.
He developed a love of Kentucky college basketball and horse racing and still follows both on TV.
His grandfather, the late John Herman Och, was a retired Pittsburgh police officer. The pair never got much of a chance to talk about police work as the elder passed when Och was a young boy.
The grandson memorialised the city police officer in a portrait that hangs in the Edgeworth chief’s office.
Och said he learned a lot from his father, longtime Quaker Valley High School math teacher and former track and field and football linemen coach William R. Och.
“It was important to be honest and treat people fairly,” he said.
He also learned to be a compassionate and active listener from his mother, registered nurse and mental health delegate Mary Rose Och.
Och said his initial plan out of high school was to become a teacher, but things changed while taking law enforcement classes at the Community College of Beaver County.
He earned associates degrees in criminal justice and in police preservice technologies while going through the Municipal Police Academy in 1994.
“My instructors were good and the content really grabbed my interest, and it was easy for me to do well in those courses,” Och said.
He also attended the Cleveland Heights Police Academy while working in Ohio.
“I think I had a leg up on the other cadets (in Cleveland) because I already had four or five years of part-time police experience under my belt,” Och said. “I certainly still had to learn the Ohio crimes code and vehicle code. I take every opportunity to learn from a new instructor that knows more about things than I do.”
When not in uniform, Och likes to play in a 50-and-older softball league in North Park, collect classic cars and spend time with his family.
He and his wife, Michele, recently celebrated their 28th anniversary. They have four children, Jordyn, 24, Ryan, 20, Madelyn, 19 and Dylan, 15.
Edgeworth support
Och was able to spend the better part of six months shadowing Burlett and preparing for the transition.
Och credited that lengthy opportunity to council, the administration’s forward thinking and Edgeworth’s hiring of Officer Kenny Battaglia last year.
The new chief said his predecessor was very thorough and wanted to ensure he was leaving the department in good hands.
“If you would ask any officer, they would probably say he showed all of us some tough love. He has high expectations for not just me, but all of the officers in the department,” Och said.
“We certainly knew where he stood on things. He was very thorough with me in ensuring that I knew everything that he felt I would need to know without having to pick up the phone and call him on June 1.”
Council Vice President Ivan Hofmann said Och was at the top of everyone’s list for Burlett’s replacement.
“He’s just a great communicator,” Hofmann said. “Really relates well to the residents. I just can’t say enough good (things) about him.”
Hofmann said he hopes Och will continue to make strides in the department’s training and technology efforts as well as community event participation.
“I expect he’s going to come up with some new ideas,” Hofmann said. “He’s big on training.”
One of Och’s goals as chief is to work with Quaker Valley School District, Sewickley Academy and local churches in active shooter training.
He also stressed the need to build strong relationships with the officers and know them as a person, not just an employee.
Borough Manager Ellen Politi said Och is a great fit for the department as its new chief.
Edgeworth is one of about a dozen Allegheny County communities to maintain a dispatch center. It also has a dog holding cell to house strays.