Wyland looks back on long law enforcement career
Ebensburg chief retiring after decades in the force
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EBENSBURG -- After 41 years of serving and protecting the community, Terry Wyland is ready for the next chapter of his life.
Wyland, who has been Ebensburg Borough's police chief for 15 years, is retiring July 1. After retirement, he hopes to travel to Europe and also become more active with Dauntless Volunteer Fire Company, where he is a life member.
He began his career as a police officer for Loretto Borough in August 1980 before moving to Ebensburg in 1982.
"Ironically, I was only planning on staying here for two years and then going south, but that didn't happen," Wyland said with a laugh. "I liked what I did, and it was a good town, so I stayed."
Throughout his years with the borough, Wyland said he has been shot at many times, including an incident in 1984 when he was shot by a barricaded gunman.
"I was lucky," he said of the incident. "Another inch or two, and I could've lost my hand."
In 2011, Wyland was part of a federal task force in which the FBI and local police officers busted a drug dealer in northern Cambria County. Wyland said the dealer had connections to two different countries and four different states to obtain drugs.
"That was nice because, for it being a small town, we normally don't get the opportunity to do wiretapping and all that stuff," he said.
Wyland said he thinks that people are not as trusting of police officers as they used to be.
"I still firmly believe that 95 percent of the officers are good," he said. "But you always hear about the bad ones."
One way Ebensburg Borough police officers try to build trust is by community policing -- having officers build personal relationships with people in the community.
"I think policing in general has changed with that," Wyland said. "Now they're running around with the windows up. People don't know who their policemen are. They don't have that connection with them, and here we still try to walk the street and talk to people."
As a result, Wyland said police officers are busier than ever before because many residents call the non-emergency number for "a variety of things."
"A lot of it probably isn't for police," he said. "But we go out and handle it. We're a lot busier than what we used to be. There's no doubt about that."
Because the police chief is salaried and doesn't get overtime pay, Borough Council Vice President Cecilia Houser said she believes Wyland performed his job diligently and sometimes worked at his own expense.
"He gives selflessly daily, never asking for praise or thanks," Houser said. "He will be sorely missed and has left large shoes to fill. But his retirement is well deserved, and I wish him the best."
Several other borough officials echoed Houser's claim that Wyland will be difficult to replace.
"I have known Terry since the first day he started," Councilman Mike Owatt said. "He would help anyone who needed it and was always there to back you up when you needed it."
Mayor Randy Datsko said Wyland will be "greatly missed" as a police chief.
"He would always look to resolve an issue rather than to escalate it," he said, adding that Wyland is an engaged community member who often volunteers for events.
"When they had the Memorial Day parade, he led the parade in his squad car but he volunteered his time," Datsko said. "He does a lot of stuff in uniform, but he doesn't bill the borough for it."
Wyland said he still plans to be active within the community.
"I'll still be involved in community things," he said.