Mar 25, 2016 4 min read

BELLE VERNON – The most heartbreaking case in police Chief John Dale Hartman’s career began on a July day in 1998, when he assisted in the capture of a man in North Belle Vernon who was wanted in the brutal killing of an Oklahoma girl.

Hartman was a police sergeant in nearby Belle Vernon and just beginning a second shift when he was called to Graham Street Park to assist an officer there who found Michael Paul Drasher slumped inside a van.

“As the night progressed, what we found and captured was the guy who was wanted for killing an 8-year-old girl in Oklahoma,” said Hartman, who is now chief of Southwest Regional Police Department based in Belle Vernon.

Drasher, who was then 26 years old, was extradited and convicted in Oklahoma for using a large rock on July 5, 1998, to deliver fatal blows to Jessica Dee Ann Price in the head and face. Hartman became involved in the man’s capture just four days later, something that earned him commendations from FBI offices in Pittsburgh and Oklahoma.

Hartman’s father, John Earl Hartman Jr., had been a strong, handsome cop and was then dying of cancer. Hartman said he went to visit his father at the time and found him crying.

“He said, ‘You did good work. You’re a good cop,'” said Hartman, a father of two daughters. “That meant a lot to me.”

Hartman said he never imagined as a young boy that his breakfast table conversations with his police-detective dad would lead him to a career in law enforcement.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was learning and living a legacy. All of the things that my dad had talked about during those breakfast conversations were teaching me how to react in certain way,” Hartman said.

“He was giving me a legacy. I learned many tools from those talks that I use today.”

Hartman said he entered in a backward sort of way, working first as a private investigator and then attending the police academy to become a police officer.

“I wanted to help people,” he said. “As a police officer, you are always helping someone. From an outsider’s eyes, it may not seem like you are helping, but you’re there experiencing situations and people at their worst, and when they really need help. We have to remember that. Most people are innately good people. The people that we come into contact with have gotten into a situation, whether it is financial, a health issue or some other extreme situation that drives them to the point where we meet up with them.”

At age 61, Hartman is still as enthusiastic about police work as he was when his career began. He’s friendly with the news media, and was among the first police chiefs in the area to post his police news on Facebook.

Established in 2003, the Southwest Regional Police Department became a source of pride for Hartman. The force encompasses three counties, eight communities and provides police services to about 16,000 people.

“We are the only one of its kind in Pennsylvania,” Hartman said. “I am proud of my men and the work they do. It is not an easy task providing coverage over such a wide area, but these men do a great job.”

He’s a master instructor at Pennsylvania State University and also teaches at the Beaver County Police Academy. He also writes curriculum for officer training and has written several books related to police work, surveillance and police policy.

“Of all of the jobs that I have been introduced to through police work, I find that I really enjoy writing and look forward to more opportunities in that venture,” he said.

Hartman has seen many changes in his years in police work.

“Things changed after 9/11,” he said. “Even in small towns, we have to be educated on all aspects of investigative work and police work. We have changed.”

With the high-profile stories of police being shared on the nightly news, he said he feels that most police officers and people are good.

“We aren’t the same as we were years ago,” he said. “When cops walked a beat, they were very visible, and everyone got to know each other on a human level.”

Nowadays, he said, you see a police car drive by, yet you don’t get that daily interaction with the police.

He said most problems can be solved by talking them out with people

“I think we all need to stop yelling at each other. That is all you see on television – people yelling at each other. We need to start talking and listening to each other and stop yelling at each other.” n

Beth Hope Cushey contributed to this story.