Recognizing New Hope Borough Chief Michael V. Cummings Retirement

Floor Speech

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Mr. Fitzpatrick. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an exceptional constituent from my district, Chief Michael V. Cummings of New Hope Borough Police Department who is retiring after over 45 years of dedicated service as a law enforcement officer.

Michael was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, but moved to Warminster, Pennsylvania in 1971 where he has remained ever since. He graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology. After graduation he began his career in 1977 with the Doylestown Borough Police Department where he remained for over 30 years.

During his tenure with Doylestown Borough, he held the ranks of Patrol Officer, Patrol Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, and Lieutenant. Michael Cummings during his tenure in Doylestown Borough had many notable accomplishments. As a patrol officer Michael was instrumental in forming what was to become a three dog K-9 unit. Michael, along with his police K-9 Bergey, went a step further and trained to compete at a regional and national level with the United States Police Canine Association.

As a sergeant, Michael was trained as a polygraph operator. In that capacity he served many police departments in providing testing for both criminal cases and new police hires. Michael Cummings was one of the first Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Instructors in Bucks County teaching the anti-drug curriculum to 6th graders in the elementary schools in the Borough.

Michael was also the supervisor of the Doylestown Borough Detective unit. He supervised the more serious cases that occurred in the Borough. One of these cases resulted in the arrest of a Columbian national and the seizure of 102 kilos of cocaine, hundreds of thousands of dollars confiscated, and property forfeitures Michael was awarded a commendation from the Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department as well as other local and state authorities for his work on this case. In addition, Michael was awarded the Delaware Valley Association of Police Professionals Officer of the year as the Bucks County recipient.

The Central Bucks County Region realized a need for a special response team for the handling of critical incidents. Michael Cummings was trained as a Negotiator and was appointed by the members of the executive Board to supervise the Crisis Negotiation Team servicing 20 municipalities in the Central and Upper Bucks region of the county.

In 2009 Michael became Police Chief of New Hope Borough. In his 15 years as chief he led numerous initiatives to better the force and community as a whole. He worked with the Borough Council to replace an aging fleet of patrol vehicles and upgraded equipment to include Mobile Date Terminals, greatly enhancing effectiveness in the field.

Chief Cummings standardized and streamlined hid department in numerous ways during his tenure. He set out to issue every officer the same side arm replacing an inefficient and disjointed system of different manufacturers and models. He was successful in obtaining funds to purchase Glock pistols that have since been upgraded to include red dot sights and mounted lights.

The record system for the Parking Enforcement Department was unorganized. Chief Cummings was able to work with a parking enforcement company to install software that made it possible to track all tickets and automatically send out letters to violators. When many of the parking tickets were discovered to be unreadable, Chief Cummings obtained handheld parking devices that took pictures. The error rate went to zero as the registration plates could be verified by pictures. He was also tasked with the implementation of a new parking system that used kiosks and a parking application. This new parking system has resulted in an increase in parking revenue.

Faced with the cost of looking up vehicle registrations becoming cost prohibitive, Cummings was able to install a Mobile Data Terminal connected to the Bucks County Radio Center in the station. Now vehicle registrations from all over the country can be accessed not only in a timely fashion but without cost.

Chief Cummings championed de-escalation during his tenure. He made sure that all full-time New Hope Borough Officers received 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training. In 2022 a body cam program was instituted with the help of a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (P.C.C.D.). He was able to obtain another PA P.C.C.D. grant to replace and outdated records management system. In 2023 the New Hope Borough Police Department became an PA accredited police department. To date, only 19 boroughs in the state have obtained this designation.

Chief Cummings is not only the Police Chief but the Emergency Management Coordinator for New Hope Borough. He was appointed by the Borough Council and the Governor to this position. In this role he has been involved in all the floods, winter storms and hurricanes since 2010. His expertise allowed him to work with the New Hope Solebury District Superintendent to develop a multi-faceted response program to deal with any threat that could be presented at the school district buildings. Officers, School Staff and Emergency responders were all involved and trained.

Chief Cummings has served as the head of the Central Bucks Crisis Negotiators Team Leader, the President of the Bucks County Chiefs Association, and the President of the Delaware Valley Hostage Negotiators Association. Despite numerous leadership positions, Michael attends all events. He oversees all operational plans for 5K races, parades, festivals, protests, and other large gatherings.

Chief Cummings is proud of his work as a liaison to the LGBQTA+ community and enjoys a strong affiliation with New Hope Celebrates the Umbrella organization. He has supervised the annual Pride Celebration in New Hope culminating in a parade that draws 10,000 people. Michael's expertise and dedication to public safety has resulted in 15 incident free years of celebration.

I am eternally grateful to Chief Cummings for the life of committed service he has given to our community, district, and country. His selfless example is a beacon of civic stewardship for the next generations of law enforcement to emulate. Michael's proficiency and devotion will be sorely missed, but I am excited for his entry into this new chapter and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.

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