33 years policing
Capt. Chowske calling it a career
SARATOGA SPRINGS — After more than three decades on the force, one of Saratoga Springs’ finest is stepping out from behind his shield.
By the time Capt. Michael Chowske retires in February, he will be the most senior member in the department with 33 years in uniform.
Chowske, who will be 56 when he retires, said since he donned the uniform in 1980 he has seen the patrolmen and patrolwomen take on more responsibility.
“It has made more wellrounded officers,” he said.
Chowske said being part of that transition, and in many ways at the helm of it, has been his biggest accomplishment on the job, despite the fact that it is largely behind- thescenes work.
“I’ve always been geared that way,” he said.
Chowske has worn a lot of hats in the department, but his favorite has been his riding helmet.
In 2000, the then- sergeant formed the city’s first mounted division, borrowing a horse from the State Park Police to help manage crowds at Saratoga Race Course.
“The city of Saratoga Springs never had a mounted division; a city known for its history and horses,” Police Chief Christopher Cole said.
He said while there was a public relations aspect to putting police on horses, the mounted division has also proven valuable for crowd-control and providing a visible police presence.
“Some of the best times I had on horseback were here, and some of the best times here were on horseback,” Chowske said. Having to do a job on horseback, he said, is “a whole other form of enjoyment” to the activity he has done for more than 40 years.
He said when people see the officers on horseback rising above the crowds on Caroline Street or while sitting in traffic at the racetrack, it lets people know an officer is there to manage whatever happens.
“The officers are nine-feet- tall when they’re on horseback,” Chowske said. “They’re not as anonymous as when they’re in the crowd.”
Chowske hasn’t gotten in the saddle as often as he would have liked to in the last few years, instead finding himself handling administrative responsibilities.
“I don’t know how any other captains found the time to get out there and do other things,” he said.
“He’s really proven himself invaluable,” Cole said, adding that the rest of the department will need to pick up some of the slack for Chowske, who was at the helm of the patrol, traffic and mounted divisions and handled a number of operational aspects of the department.
Cole said that at this point the captain’s position is only funded for half of 2013 and Chowske’s responsibilities will likely be distributed to the department’s lieutenants, assistant chief and chief.
“All of that experience is going out the door with him,” he said. “We’re in a different age now. Mike has a lot of the old- time policing still in him, and the newer policing techniques.”
Chowske said he has “no delusions that they won’t be able to function without me,” but then Cole said that was part of Chowske’s role at the department: making sure everyone else is prepared to step in and take on more.
In parting from the department, Chowske said, “I’d like to hope I made a difference. I think I made a difference.”
Chowske is taking vacation time for his last two months in the department, attending some meetings and making sure that if the people who take over for him have questions, he’ll still be in a position to assist. Even now, as the department is planning some of its 2013 goals and plans, he said he feels out of the loop.
But Chowske’s wife, Linda, retired from the Saratoga Springs Police Department about a decade ago, and “she’s been waiting for me,” he said. The two plan on traveling and seeing other parts of the country.
Cole said the department does not currently have enough staff to promote someone to Chowske’s position. “It’s tough to fill supervisor positions when you don’t have the numbers on the patrol side to draw on,” he said.
The department currently has 54 active officers — which includes everyone from the chief to patrol officers — down from 72 in 2009. Some of the staffing reduction is due to officers out with injuries, unfilled positions from retirements and resignations and the seven layoffs included in the 2010 budget.