Joseph Gura reflects on tenure as Perkasie police chief
After 32 years of service dealing with everything from bears, to an undercover narcotics investigation, to a hit-and-run accident and a stint working for the Olympics, Perkasie Borough police Chief Joseph Gura is retiring.
Gura, 55, handed in his resignation to borough council Monday, Jan. 7. Gura’s last day will be Thursday, Jan. 31, and Sgt. Steve Hillias will take over as interim chief starting Friday, Feb. 1.
“I’ve been talking retirement for three to four years,” Gura said. “It’s been a long, hard six months.”
Gura’s father passed away right before the Michael Marino Jr. shooting occurred in Sellersville in June. Marino, 26, was shot to death by a police officer after he was combative to Perkasie Borough police officers.
Hillias said it was “remarkable” that Gura could juggle grieving for his father, setting up the funeral arrangements and dealing with such a complex case as the Marino shooting.
It was during this investigation that Gura decided he would retire this year. With lightly graying hair,
Gura said he is surprised he has any hair left after dealing with the case.
“I’m really, I guess the right word is ... tired. It was a long 32 years — but a good 32 years. I don’t have any regrets,” he said.
Now, the chief wants to focus on his family, look for some work part-time possibly and fish and travel.
“There are no real plans at the moment. I’m just going to get caught up on a lot of things,” he said. “I’m definitely not getting up early that first day.”
Council will decide if Hillias becomes the new chief or if there is a better candidate found by an executive search firm.
“He [Hillias] is willing and has the aspirations to try the job, and he’ll do a good job,” Gura said. “I have great confidence in him.”
In February 1980, Gura joined the Perkasie police force, back when he said town was dead by 9 p.m. and he’d see deer in the middle of town.
When he took the police test in 1979, there were 13 applicants for the job. Now, Gura said, when there is a position open, there are sometimes 200 to 300 applicants.
“When I started the job, I was told that 90 percent of the work would be dealing with 10 percent of the population,” he said. “Most people are good people.”
When he was a newbie officer, Gura was assigned to a narcotics investigation, which required him to go undercover, wear an earring and long hair and try to catch people selling drugs.
Later, Gura became sergeant in 1993, and he was promoted to chief in 2005.
Some of the memorable cases that Gura remembers in his 32-year span include the fire of 1988 and the baby abducted from Grand View Hospital in 1986. Another memorable case was when a man stole a running car parked outside a post office. He took off in the car, not knowing there was a baby in the back seat.
In all the years Gura has been on the police force, there has never been a confirmed murder case — Gura knocked on wood, as he said it.
There have been, however, some homicides involving automobiles. One Christmas Eve, a man was hit crossing the street and the female driver took off. She was caught and served 90 days in prison, according to Gura.
The chief said he had to go to the brother’s and the sister’s house to deliver the news. The next day, Christmas Day, Gura reported to work at 10 a.m. for the autopsy.
This aspect of the job, Gura said, was the worst — having to miss family events for the sake of his job.
He said it was a stress on his family, missing birthday parties, funerals and weddings. When his son was young and playing Little League baseball, Gura would take his dinner break to go over to his game.
Gura hadn’t been married to his wife for even a full year when he took the officer position in Perkasie. He gives her credit for taking care of his son and daughter.
“I really thank her — she did a lot for the family. I owe her a lot,” he said.
The best part of the job, Gura said, was the oppor- tunity to meet people, not just locally but nationally. In 1996, Gura volunteered to serve as a policeman during the Olympics in Atlanta. There, he met officers from England, New wealand, Australia and Italy.
He also attended the FBI National Academy, a prestigious training academy where Gura took sessions on investigations, the press, budgets, grant writing, forensics, interviews and physical fitness.
Being a good listener and respecting people even if they’ve had a momentary lack of judgment are two important traits a good chief should have, Gura said.
“You have to treat people like they’re people,” he said. “Even if they did something wrong, treat them as a person.”
Gura said he’s received well wishes and congratulations from residents — some of them surprised about his retirement.
The chief jokes about becoming the old neighbor Mr. Wilson from “Dennis the Menace” and calling the cops on loud kids, just so that he can say hello to “the guys.”
“That last day is going to be a tough day,” Gura said, thinking especially of some men he’s been working with for more than 20 years. “You can’t really just say goodbye and walk away.”