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Being a police officer runs in 3rd District Capt. Michael Ryan’s blood as his father, uncle, grandfather and great grandfather have had the profession, though none reached the rank of captain.
Ryan made his way around the room with a smile on his face and shook the hands of each person, who congratulated him for 35 years of service to the Philadelphia Police Department, at a ceremony at 3rd District headquarters, 1300 S. 11th St., Friday.
“It was a very big surprise,” Ryan, who has held his latest post 18 months as of yesterday, said. “I was actually going to training.”
He also had planned to tend to an afternoon task afterward, but asked his wife of 26 years to take care of it.
“He doesn’t even know I’m here,” Mary Jo Ryan, a former Packer Park resident, said before her husband entered the room. “Of course, he scheduled me to go to the vet and I had to call the vet and say, ‘I can’t get there.’”
His co-workers insisted he stick around as they honored 3rd District Officer Susan Paul for her 30 years on the job. While they also honored Paul, who grew up at 30th and Tasker streets and currently resides at 15th and Ritner streets, they failed to mention his share of recognition.
“All too often we take these milestones for granted,” Deputy Commission Kevin Bethel, a former 17th District captain, said before taking a friendly jab at Ryan. “… Mike, I have to tell you this: Thirty-five years ago, I was in ninth grade.”
Those who work under Ryan noted his willingness to implement effective and innovative crime-prevention tactics.
The district’s Police Service Areas cut through already established neighborhoods when Ryan and Lt. Joseph Bologna, who formerly held a post at the 1st District, 2301 S. 24th St., arrived. Within a month of its undertaking, a solution was presented, Bologna said.
“We broke it down for all the communities to stay in their framework,” the Passyunk Square native, who now calls Northeast Philly home, said. “That was one of the big problems when we got here.”
Administrative Lt. James McCann influenced Ryan’s exercise regime, as the pair cycle Sundays along the Schuylkill River in order to train for the Tour de Shore, a summertime 65-mile bike race from Center City to Atlantic City, N.J. that benefits police charities.
Opening Ryan’s eyes to the benefits, McCann convinced him to add Segway presence on East Passyunk Avenue and increase the district’s bike patrol, which will add four more trained officers in June.
“Now they come in handy down here with the traffic,” Ryan said.
The Northeast resident started out as an officer in the 6th District and the Stakeout Unit before traveling throughout the department taking roles in the 35th District as sergeant; Central Detective Division as lieutenant; and 18th District, Internal Affairs Bureau, Safety Office/Staff Services, 23rd District, Command Inspections Bureau and Recruit Background Investigation Unit as a captain before landing his current role.
“His police experience alone is invaluable,” Bologna, who heads Police Service Area 1 and the South Street Mini Station, 905 S. South St., said. “He’s worked in a multitude of assignments, which I think makes him a valuable commander.”
The St. Joseph’s University graduate has various components comprising his district — formerly split at Tasker Street prior to the 2010 merger — such as South Street, Columbus Boulevard shopping centers, the sports complex and Xfinity Live!, as well as a high-crime section bounded by Dickinson, Fourth, Ritner and Ninth streets.
“There’s enough crime down here to keep us all busy and concerned,” Ryan said.
Contact Managing Editor Amanda L. Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
Also in this week’s Police Report:
On the run
Retail ruckus
Puncture wound
Adolescents attack senior
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