Patrolman DeSanctis Awarded Haverford’s Police Officer of the Year

As the Haverford Township Board of Commissioners asked residents to observe that this week is National Police Week, Chief Carmen Pettine awarded patrolman Matthew DeSanctis Police Officer of the Year.

“We recognize him for diligent and faithful duty and for valuable and extraordinary service performed consistently during the entire year,” Pettine said of DeSanctis during the commissioner’s meeting Monday evening.

Pettine continued to say that DeSanctis, who joined the police department in 2009, is a member of the township’s special response team and was involved in a special arrest. In addition to living in Haverford, DeSanctis graduated from the University of Delaware with degrees in political science and geography and received a law degree from Villanova University.

While speaking to the Haverford-Havertown Patch on Tuesday morning, DeSanctis said that he felt honored by the award.

“I was very surprised and humbled,” he said when he first discovered that he was named Haverford’s Police Officer of the Year.

While one of the downsides of being a police officer is being away from family and missing memorable events such as weddings and birthday parties, DeSanctis said, one of the benefits to the job is the people that he works with.

The 27-year-old explained that even though his fellow officers worked very long hours on Monday, they still took the time to be at the commissioners’ meeting on Monday night to watch him being presented with the award.

“The strong leadership from the township makes this a great place to work for,” he said of his fellow officers.

When he is not on patrol, DeSanctis has been spending a lot of time planning his August wedding with his fiancé. And he still has time to play with Gilbert, his greyhound of two years.

The commissioners also wanted residents to observe that National Police Officers Memorial Day is Tuesday, May 15. The day is in honor of police officers who have laid down their lives, according to Steve D'Emilio, vice president of the board of commissioners and 1st Ward commissioner.

Pettine told the board and those in attendance of the perils of being a police officer and said that in was the first and only Haverford Township police officer killed in the line of duty.

And in 2011, 21 Haverford Township police officers were injured during the line of duty and need medical treatment, but all made full recovery and returned to work, Pettine explained.