Blair Township Police Chief Roger White, 66, is retiring from the force July 21 after more than 40 years in law enforcement. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

The local law enforcement officer credited with getting confessions from two killers now serving life sentences is ready to hang up his badge and gun.

Roger White, currently Blair Township’s police chief, will retire July 21. His more than 40-year career included stints with Hollidaysburg Borough, the city of Altoona, the Altoona Area Vo-Tech, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Saint Francis University and finally Blair Township.

He’s been a patrol officer, a detective, teacher and mentor, but at 66, White said being a police officer “is a younger man’s job” as “age catches up with you.”

White didn’t start out in law enforcement, instead he worked in the railyards, first with Berwind Railway in Hollidaysburg then at Conrail. When layoffs hit, White, then in his early 20s, decided he needed something more.

Working in the railyards was a “growing experience,” he said, but it wasn’t something he wanted to turn into a career.

Instead, he looked toward his work with the Phoenix Volunteer Fire Department and the friendships he made with local police officers.

“(Police work) looked like a pretty decent job,” White said, adding that the pay and hours weren’t great, but the work was steady and he wouldn’t need to worry about getting laid off in the winter.

The benefits were also a boon, as he figured it was time to start thinking about his future.

During a recent interview, White looked back at his more than 40-year career, the last dozen of which has been as Blair Township’s police chief.

In some respects, he said retirement seems like jumping out of “a perfectly good airplane” — the department is in a good place and he enjoys the work.

In other respects, though, retiring now seems like exactly the right time, he said.

Path to chief

White began his long career as an auxiliary officer, one without police powers, for Hollidaysburg Borough. While still working at the railroad, he enrolled in an 11-month police academy course taught by Indiana University of Pennsylvania at Mount Aloysius College.

It ran a couple of nights a week and all day Saturdays, and he graduated in early 1981, a few months after his layoff from the railroad.

His first actual job as an officer with police powers was with Hollidaysburg, as a part-timer.

Hoping for a full-time position, he took a test for the city and was hired by the Altoona Police Department in May 1981.

He remembers wondering if he made a mistake when he was put on the night shift, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays off.

It was a severe adjustment of his personal schedule, but he ended up sticking it out, got used to the work and began to learn from veteran officers, who liked the night shift because it wasn’t as busy as daytime and the top brass weren’t around.

“I was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed,” White said, and he soaked up the experience.

He developed camaraderie with the other officers, and some of the work was exciting, he said.

“We would run around in the car, blow the siren, run lights, tell people what to do,” he said. Before long, “I was kind of hooked.”

Being on the night shift meant a lot of interactions with people who liked to fight and who were often drunk. Officers were often called on to go into bars and remove patrons who refused to leave or who had gotten into fights.

He learned to be observant, to be aware, to size up people and situations quickly — and to be conscious of how his own behavior would affect the dynamic of a scene. He also learned how to communicate effectively, often in order to put people at ease, he said.

“When you hear your number on the radio, it’s game time,” White said. “You’ve got to be prepared.”

‘You actually help’

White readily admits he didn’t choose to be a police officer just because he wanted to help people — a motivation many cite. Instead, he was looking for a stable career in which he could grow.

In the late 1990s, already 15 years into his career, White said the importance of his work really hit home.

A juror’s letter complimenting the prosecutorial team on the murder conviction in the child abuse death of Ashley Decker was eye-opening.

“It’s the first time I really understood,” said White. “When you do what you’re supposed to do, when you try to do a good job, you actually help.”

In recounting the Ashley Decker and Robert J. Garlick murder cases, White said good interviewing skills require “gut” intuition, good training, persistence and experience.

He learned those skills and more in the criminal division of APD, an opportunity he was given by Police Chief Pete Starr after putting in five years on patrol.

Working with the detectives, White said, “cemented the idea that that’s where I wanted to be.”

Officers took responsibility for their own cases, when possible, White said, knowing they needed to work their cases and search for the truth.

Detectives identified suspects, gathered evidence, proceeded to questioning, then interrogation.

They made use of resources such as doctors at the hospital and coroners, he said.

Lt. Tony Alianello ran the division and never discouraged them, according to White, but they had to make sure they proceeded legally, so that defense attorneys couldn’t challenge their evidence in court.

Obtaining confessions and guilty pleas was the ultimate goal, and detectives used common interrogation tactics, like striking up conversations, finding common ground with suspects and reading their mannerisms and other body language, he said.

You learned to back off if you pushed too hard, he added.

Kenney confessions

White used his interview skills to obtain the confession that led to the conviction of Rowlanda-Lea Kenney in the beating death of 4-year-old Ashley Decker in 1997.

The girlfriend of the child’s father, Kenney was read her Miranda rights when she came in for an interview, but didn’t ask for an attorney, even though she knew she was a suspect, White said.

The interview was long, and Kenney became anxious and stressed, White said.

“You could finally see her breaking down,” he said. “You could see changes in her posture and her breathing.”

White worked with that, asked pointed questions and got personal.

He encouraged her to tell him what she knew, letting her know that he knew she probably didn’t mean to hurt the girl.

“It’s time,” he told her eventually. “It’s time for you to tell me what happened.”

“Let’s give Ashley some peace,” he said.

Finally, Kenney just gave up, he said.

When it was over, there followed a more in-depth, written confession, he said.

Kenney is serving a life sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder.

The case led to the passage of a law by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, known as Ashley’s Law, that made it possible for police and child welfare agencies to work cooperatively across county lines in the investigation of child abuse complaints.

Saltsman surrenders

Ten years before the Decker case, White was confronted with the killing of Reighard’s Gas Station attendant Robert J. Garlick.

In February 1987, the gas station was robbed and 22-year-old Garlick was taken to the cliffs behind the Altoona Bible Church and shot to death.

Detectives identified William P. Saltsman as a suspect and interviewed him, White said.

White said he had a feeling Saltsman was the killer because he was antsy and seemed to be hiding something, based on his body language. But, without proof, all he could do was continue the investigation.

He began placing himself near Saltsman, parking not far from his house, going where Saltsman hung out, sitting and watching, and basically making Saltsman uncomfortable.

It wasn’t illegal, White said, and it wasn’t long before Saltsman called the station and got White on the phone.

Saltsman told White he couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to come in to talk. “He said ‘I killed that boy,'” White recalled Saltsman telling him.

White said he was taken aback, but tried to sound professional, even when Saltsman said, “I shot him and I have the gun.”

Saltsman said he would come to the police station, and White told him to bring the gun.

After they hung up, White said he realized that it was going to get dicey, given that the self-declared killer was heading to City Hall bearing the suspected murder weapon.

With the help of fellow detective Andy Elder, White put the department on alert and met Saltsman on the stairway to the third floor.

Saltsman was holding the weapon in his cupped hands, as though it were an offering.

“I said, ‘OK, let’s sit and talk,'” White said.

Saltsman cried as he confessed, according to White.

The case had weighed on White and getting the confession felt like the weight was lifted, he said.

The victim had been a hardworking young man from a “salt-of-the-earth” family, White said, stating that Garlick had ridden his bike to the gas station for his shift that night.

During the interview, White said Saltsman admitted to killing the young man because he recognized him and, when asked, said he would tell police about the robbery.

The victim’s family was devastated, White said, adding that closing those types of cases is more important than solving minor infractions.

The loss of a car or items taken from a home or garage can be replaced, but you can’t replace a loved one who’s been murdered, he said.

Saltsman is serving life plus 12.5 to 25 years in prison, after entering guilty pleas to the killing.

Becoming chief

While he liked detective work, White’s current job, which he’s held since 2011, has turned out to be his most enjoyable.

He serves as a mentor to young officers and works with supervisors who’ve “let us be a police department,” he said.

But it’s time to go, he said.

The recent spate of shootings across the country is felt here at home where he’s begun to worry more about calls he gets at night — that it could mean something has happened to “one of my guys.”

Too frequently, police officers are getting shot on the job, his wife, Toni, reminded him recently, he said.

“It was a hit for us when he announced his retirement,” said four-year department veteran Matt Fleck, for whom White has been a mentor. “He was the glue that kept the department together.”

White was “a Swiss army knife” as chief, Fleck said. “He knew pretty much every answer.”

White took a chance on Fleck when the younger man graduated from the police academy, according to Fleck.

After the hire, “he gave me the best training and sent me to the best classes,” Fleck said.

White was easy to approach about a problem and knew what section of the Crimes Code he needed to cite, Fleck said.

White expects his officers to answer all kinds of calls and to fulfill all police responsibilities “precisely and fluently,” Fleck said.

White would always “have your back,” he added.

Overall, the chief’s approach gave Fleck the confidence he needs in a world in which police sometimes need “to walk on eggshells to do the job correctly,” Fleck said.

White is known as a “servant leader” who created “a family environment, a brotherhood,” said Supervisors Chairman Paul Amigh.

“It wasn’t just a job for him,” said Supervisor Brad Germaux, who is responsible for the police department.

With White in charge, the department was in good hands, he said.

While White is retiring, his legacy continues.

Sgt. Roger Peacock will succeed White as chief.

White was “the best role model” that Peacock could have had, Fleck said.

As for White, he doesn’t have a true post-retirement plan.

“I’ll play it by ear,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll like it as much as I like working.”

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.

Retirement celebration

Blair Township Police Chief Roger White (after a more than 40-year career) and Secretary/Treasurer Betty Robertson (after 26 years) are retiring July 21. There will be a public gathering, with refreshments, at the Blair Township Police Department from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 19. The public is invited to attend and congratulate White and Robertson on their retirements.

The White file

Name: Roger White

Age: 66

Family: Wife, Toni White; son, Edward A. White of Blue Knob, married to Elissa; granddaughter, Joann White; sister, Beth Eshelman of New Enterprise.

Education: 1974 Hollidaysburg Senior High School graduate; associate degree in general studies from Mount Aloysius College in the 1990s; 2002 bachelor’s degree in administration of justice from Mountain State University; 2004 master’s degree in criminal justice, Boston University.

Work history: Berwind Railway during and after high school; the Samuel Rea Car Shop in Hollidaysburg for Conrail, 1975-80; Altoona Police Department, 1981 to 2004, retiring as detective; instructor at Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center, 2004; director, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Criminal Justice Training Center, 2005-10; chief of police, Saint Francis University, 2010-11; chief of police, Blair Township, 2011 to the present, will retire July 21.