Q & A with retiring NCCo Police Lt. Col. Scott McLaren

After 23 years as a police officer, the last 20 with New Castle County, Lt. Col. Scott McLaren is retiring from the force effective July 24. McLaren led the department for 14 months before Col. Rick Gregory was hired in September 2006 as chief. McLaren reflected on his time with the county in this interview with the Community News

Why did you decide it was time to retire?

I was always looking forward to another career after police work. I got my Master's in Administration of Criminal Justice with a concentration in homeland security, which I'm very much involved in. I begin July 13 at Wilmington University...and I'll be teaching criminal justice and homeland security courses.

What will you most remember during your time with the agency?

I spent half my career in detectives...and stayed in there for 12 years. Eventually, I switched over and ran the drug squad undercover operations for a little over a year and eventually I was named commander of detectives. The first homicide I handled was the Hockessin ax murder in 1992 (when Elizabeth Girardi was killed in her driveway by Robert Jackson during a botched burglary). To have that be your first homicide, an ax murder in the middle of Hockessin, was a lot of stress, but the suspect was in custody in seven days.

What is your take on some of the staffing issues faced by the department?

You'll never talk to any chief of police or second-in-command such as myself who thinks they've got enough cops. You always need more cops. We've done a pretty good job of growing with the population, but I think we could be giving even better service if we had more police officers. We've done studies that show that if we want to have officers be more proactive we'd need to add about 100 more cops and we went from that conversation to this current financial situation where departments all over the country are looking at cutting staff.

What kind of relationships did you form with your fellow officers during your 20 years on the force?

I was told once that if you have a few friends you're a lucky man. I think I've made more than a handful of friends and I have people I can call up 24/7 that I can reach out to and that's a two-way street. I would do anything for a brother or sister officer. And I hope to remain active in a program I helped start 20 years ago helping other officers with critical incident stress management, helping them deal with traumatic things they might encounter on the job...It's other officers talking to other officers who have been through life events.

What were your duties as Lt. Colonel?

I think the chief at the time, David McAllister, felt the need to have a second-in-command. In that position I assumed all responsibilities operationally for the whole department: patrol, criminal investigations, special units, day-to-day operations and I remained the Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordinator for the county.

What is it about your skill set that made you an effective leader?

I had an ability to make calm decisions during a period of unrest. I've been a volunteer fire fighter (for Elsmere) for the past 30 years, so as a 16-year-old I was jumping on fire trucks and...riding ambulances, so that gave me good real-life experiences leading up to what I saw with the police department.

What do you remember about your time as acting chief?

When Col. McAllister was put on administrative leave, I was told that I'd be temporarily in charge of the department and that a new chief would be named from within the department in the next two weeks. For whatever reason, that turned into 14 months and a nationwide search. During those months, it was a privilege to serve and what I did and the programs I started nobody can ever take away from me, but County Executive [Chris Coons] decided to go in a different direction.

What was it like going from a candidate for the chief's position to working under Col. Rick Gregory, the person who beat you out for the job?

It wasn't difficult because of the type of person he is. He's very grounded. He's more than qualified for the position and we hit it off on day one. We're the same age, we come from similar backgrounds...Operations has always been more of my bailiwick and he handled more of the administrative end of things, so I think we made a pretty good team. I'm not leaving because he became chief - he's been chief for three years now. I'm leaving because it's that time, and other opportunities became available to me. I never planned on being a cop until I was 55. It's a lot of stress and it's tough on the body and tough on the family.