Published: March 30, 2009 06:58 pm      

Burnside Police Chief Glover to step down

Burnside — One gets the feeling that it won’t be easy to pry Eddie Glover off the streets of Burnside.

When a reporter calls Glover to take a photograph of the veteran local lawman on a rainy afternoon, the current Burnside Police Chief isn’t sitting idly behind a desk in his office, or lounging around his house. He’s behind the wheel of his cruiser, a few streets away from the police department headquarters, actively watching over the city entrusted to his care.

There is no hint that he finds such activity tedious; in fact, once arrived, Glover stares out into the gray drizzle and his voice becomes distant, as if he wishes he didn’t have to say what he’s about to declare.

“I just felt like it was time,” said Glover. “Time to hang it up.”

Glover was referring to his impending retirement. After 31 years in Pulaski County law enforcement — including stints in the Sheriff’s Office and both Somerset and Ferguson Police Departments — Glover is handing in his badge for the leisurely life sometime in the next few months, likely in July.

But before he goes, Glover received one last piece of recognition for his fine work on behalf of Burnside.

Kentucky Law Enforcement, a quarterly periodical published by the Kentucky Justice and Safety Cabinet which recognizes the best and brightest of the Thin Blue Line across the Commonwealth, featured Glover in the Spring 2009 edition.

Glover’s spotlight is unique — larger police departments and law agencies in more heavily populated communities had gotten this kind of treatment from the magazine, but to Glover’s understanding, Burnside was the first small department to warrant a ride-along visit from one of the publication’s writers.

“I was off and Bruce (Blevins, Burnside Asst. Police Chief) called me wanting to know if we’d be interested in doing the article,” said Glover, before adding with a chuckle, “Any good publicity you can get, get it, because the bad will always follow you.”

In this case, the “good publicity” followed Glover on a ride through town, documenting life in the sleepy lakefront community. It’s considerably less sleepy than in the past, however; since taking the reins half a decade ago, Glover has presided over a lot of change in the Burnside landscape, and that of Pulaski as a whole.

In Glover’s time, he’s seen the double-edged sword of alcohol sales come to his community. The plus for him is the funding boost for his department — since the alcohol sales tax goes to benefit Burnside Police, money has been available for more officers (as many as five at one point, before Officer Philip Woodall’s recent retirement) and upgraded equipment. The downside is that there’s a whole new set of concerns that no other agency in Pulaski County deals with as closely.

The growth of Burnside through annexation and changes to local roadways have also made life interesting — the partial clover interchange at the crossing of U.S. 27, Ky. 90 and Ky. 1247 has created a speed trap that Glover has recently warned against drivers exploiting.

All of this certainly makes Glover noteworthy among his small-city peers. Glover said he was honored by the decision to feature him in the magazine, but true to form wouldn’t take all the credit for himself.

“We try to be a friendly police, a media-oriented police,” said Glover. “I couldn’t do a thing without all the good people I have working for me.”

This isn’t Glover’s first such honor. In 2007, Glover was nominated for the “America’s Most Wanted All-Stars,” a program sponsored by the popular TV show designed to honor accomplished law enforcement officers around the country.

That’s just one of the highlights of Glover’s career, which saw a close friendship with the late Sheriff Sam Catron, a meeting with President George W. Bush (before he was in office), and much more.

“I’ve seen things that people wouldn’t believe,” said Glover. “I’ve enjoyed it for the most part. ... It’s been an honor to serve Pulaski Countains.

Burnside Mayor Chuck Fourman will hate to lose the man who keeps the city’s safety under his hand.

“It’s been great to work with (Glover),” said Fourman. “He’s brought a lot to the department. They (Glover and Woodall) set things in motion for this city, so that whenever he hire someone to take his place, they can pick up and go.”

No decision has been made yet on a replacement. Fourman said the city will start looking at candidates once Glover sets an official date of retirement.

Glover began his career on November 1, 1978, the first hire former Somerset Police Chief Vertree Jones made to the department. Glover worked there 21 years, then served the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department and also looked over the city of Ferguson — with one prior retirement already wedged in there after the Somerset era.

But Glover couldn’t stay away. In over five years at Burnside, Glover helped secure new radar equipment, in-car cameras, cruisers, body armor and sidearms through grants and the alcohol tax funding. He’s proud of these accomplishments, and the ability to leave Burnside in better shape than he found it.

“When I first started in Burnside, we lacked a lot,” said Glover. “I made a list of things I wanted us to have before I left — better weapons, better radio equipment, new radars. We got to end of that list, and we still need more stuff, but we’re at the top of the mountain now. I accomplished what I set out to do.”

And would he do it all again if he could? Absolutely he would, he says — in a heartbeat.

“It’s been an honor to serve Pulaski Countains,” said Glover. “The council and mayors I’ve worked for have all been supportive. ... I’ve enjoyed serving the people of Burnside and I wish them nothing but the best of luck. It’s been a pleasure.”