For a townie who wanted to get out of town, Gary Spencer is happy he stuck around Bowling Green.
"I’m very grateful to have been a police officer in the city of Bowling Green," said Spencer,
who will retire as chief of police Friday.
Coming home from two of tours of duty as a Green Beret in Vietnam, Spencer said he and his wife Barb
(Simon), also a townie, "had no intention to stay in BG any longer than for her to have their first
child. All of my kids have been educated here. The only thing I would do differently is marry my wife
sooner. We met in high school and were married three years out of high school."
Spencer’s police career didn’t start until he was 34. "I was in the military, then went to school,
worked for Libbey-Owens-Ford and even worked for the city a year. I was at the university ski hill with
my kids one day in 1981 when a guy I knew told me the city was going to give a police test. I took it
and the rest is history."
Spencer was one of five police officers the city hired in 1981. He and Brad Conner, who will succeed
Spencer as chief, are the only ones of the five still on the force.
Starting in May 1981 he spent 10 years as a patrolman, was promoted to sergeant in 1991, to lieutenant in
1997, to deputy chief in 2001 and to chief in 2006.
As chief Spencer said the biggest challenge has been keeping the budget under control. "I think we
have kept it under control, but some things like community policing and keeping equipment up to date
have suffered. We’re retiring three cruisers this year that each have at least 120,000 miles. Those are
all city miles and there is a lot of idle time on the engines."
Another goal was not to have to lay off any officers and Spencer has succeeded. "We’ve cut training
and overtime, but it was paramount to keep people working. We’re just one officer below our authorized
strength of 43." That opening is the result of an officer leaving the city and the city deciding
not to fill the position to hold down the budget. His retirement creates a second vacancy.
"We’ve been very happy with Gary’s service," said BG Mayor John Quinn. "He’s been a steady
hand, a good leader. He’s well-respected in the community and by the forces."
Spencer said the toughest job for him has been death notifications. "Bowling Green police have a
policy of never doing notifications over the phone but in person. When I was a sergeant in the 1990s we
had a young student who walked in front of a train on Halloween night and was killed. I called the
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and asked them to make the notification. An hour and a half later I
got a telephone call from her father asking me why I wanted to talk to him, so now I’ve gotta tell the
dad over the phone. To me that was so impersonal. I’ve never quite gotten over Montgomery County not
telling the guy what happened."
There were no computers in use when Spencer started ad he recalls the first one "covered one wall
and we had to have special air conditioning. Now we have them in every car and on everyone’s desk. We
probably run 30,000 (license) plates a month from the cars. We find a lot of people driving with license
suspensions and that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. Some people just do not think they need a
license to be on the road."
Spencer said the city is fortunate to have five people on the staff who have completed training at the
FBI academy, including himself, Conner, Tony Hetrick, Brad Biller and Mark McDonough. "For an
agency this size, that’s pretty remarkable," he said. Former chiefs Galen Ash and Tom Votava, along
with retired officer Tom Brokamp, also attended the academy.
The "most amazing" complaint Spencer said he hears is "how bad the traffic is in BG."
"I can’t believe that. I wonder if people who tell me that have every been anywhere else in the
world."
Spencer said he expects to play more golf, tackle a list of projects that he suspects his wife has
waiting, and spend more time visiting his son and daughter and their families. "We haven’t seen
them as much as we would like."
The chief is confident that Conner can handle his new job. "He’s a smart man. He has common senses
and patience. He’ll do well. He’s got good people."