O’Hara council lauds top cop
bring the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program to students in the Fox Chapel Area School District and for his work as a deputy chief for Allegheny County HAZMAT Team 420.
The quiet, unassuming law enforcement officer said: “If it wasn’t for the fine officers of the township, I wouldn’t be getting these accolades. The new superintendent is in the backand he is going to continueour fine tradition.”
Superintendent Farringer grew up in Butler County. He said one of the things he remembers most is enjoying the outdoors with his father. After graduating from Mars Area Junior-Senior High School, he studied at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy and began his law enforcement career in Mars in 1974. He joined the O’Hara police force four years later.
“It’ssomething different every day,” Superintendent Farringer said of working in law enforcement. “No two days are ever the same. And the best part, until I got promoted, was being outdoors allthe time.”
The biggest change to the job over 40 years has been all the new technology, he said. “Since ‘78, we’ve made leaps and bounds and now communicatevia laptops.”
However, he said officers must be vigilant. “If they’re on a laptop in their car, they must remain cognizant of their surroundings. With some of the latest ambushes, it makes youthink.”
Commercial developmenthas changed the community dynamic, he pointed out. “It was a lot quieter until the Waterworks opened. That increased the traffic and undesirableactivity.”
RIDC was only partially developed when Superintendent Farringer began working in O’Hara, and the trucking and rail transportation grew and businessesmoved into town.
Through it all, Superintendent Farringer has learned to focus on the positive aspects of his job. “You can’t dwell on the negative,” he said. He also has seen a lot of heartache in the line of duty, includingsome very sad fatalities on Route 28. “But you have tomove on.”
Since his wife, Terri, plans to continue her career as an administrator for a gastroenterologist, Superintendent Farringer will have time to spend withhis son, Jonathan and his 95-year-old father who ishealthy and still living in the same house he built in Mars. “I imagine my honey-do list is getting real long.”
That joke reveals how the 65-year-old is following his career mantra as he heads into retirement — focusing on the positive. “I’m nervous. It’s going to be a big change. But I’m looking forward to it also.”
Superintendent Farringer and his wife plan to travel the country and see the Lower 48 states. They especially are looking forward to a motorcycle trip tothe Northwest coast.