Murrysville police chief to retire after 40-plus years in law enforcement

Tom Seefeld isn’t looking forward to waking up at 4:30 a.m. for no reason come July.

“I’m a scheduled, structured person,” he said “I don’t know what it is to sleep in.”

Seefeld, 65, will retire as chief of the Murrysville Police Department at the end of June, wrapping up a law enforcement career that spans more than four decades, including a quarter-century as a police chief, first in New Kensington and then Murrysville.

“We’ll see if I actually get to sleep in,” Seefeld said. “I want to. It’ll probably take time.”

After growing up in North Irwin, Seefeld was 22 when he joined the Irwin police department in 1981. By late 1982, he had moved to the New Kensington police force, where he worked until 2002. After making sergeant, Seefeld spent his final four years there as the borough’s police chief.

Seefeld cut his law enforcement teeth policing a New Kensington that had been in the grip of the Mafia just a decade or so earlier, and was undergoing a serious economic downturn following the closure of major industrial businesses such as Alcoa and the American-St. Gobain glass works next door in Arnold.

“There was a good deal of crime and violence in New Ken,” Seefeld said.

When he became the city’s youngest police chief at age 39, Seefeld began organizing what would eventually become the Westmoreland County SWAT team in 1999.

“We wanted a way to answer serious incidents and high priority calls,” he said. “We started with seven of my officers and an armored vehicle donated by the state of California. It’s continued to grow, and I’m really proud of having done that.”

Today, nine Westmoreland police departments have members on the team.

“It’s grown into a really good thing to have,” Seefeld said.

A family legacy

Seefeld said his older brother was the person who initially got him interested in police work. When he married his wife Mary and started a family, it wasn’t long before his sons told him they wanted to follow in his footsteps. Today, both his sons are with the Penn Township police department, and four of Seefeld’s nephews are in law enforcement.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry about them, but I’m a very faith-based person. I put it in God’s hands,” Seefeld said. “Really, my wife is the hero of the family. I just have two kids who are cops, but she’s got two kids and a husband to worry about.”

Seefeld said he’s proud of watching his sons develop their careers.

“I know they’re tactically minded like me, they’re careful in their jobs and they have a lot of common sense, which is what you really need in this job,” he said.

Having his children work in law enforcement has perhaps also helped to keep Seefeld grounded during a quarter-century in the chief’s role.

“The chief never forgot what it was like to work as a patrolman or a front-line supervisor,” said Capt. Tom Kusinsky, who will step into Seefeld’s role when he is sworn in on July 1.

“He trusted in us to make the decision. He would never ignore our input, but he also never hesitated when an immediate decision needed to be made,” Kusinsky said.

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said Seefeld is one of the finest examples of what police represent.

“He’s leaving behind a legacy of integrity, respect and admiration,” Ziccarelli said. “As chief, he led Murrysville through one of the toughest and most tragic events it had ever experienced, and showed the nation how resilient and strong that community truly is.”

Ziccarelli was referring to the April 2014 stabbing at Franklin Regional Senior High School, where 24 people were injured by a 16-year-old student who brought two large knives to school.

Seefeld said it was the biggest challenge of his career.

“I came in that morning, heard the school resource officer call for help and was the first person in the school,” he said. “To this day, there are times when I still think about it. The recovery in the community took a long time, to try and regain a sense of normalcy.”

Seefeld discussed the department’s response at law enforcement conferences and events over the next 2-3 years, and was featured in an FBI training video, “The Coming Storm,” which focused on the response to police emergencies.

Seefeld’s interview begins around the 27-minute mark:

Another challenge was ensuring his officers were trained and equipped to the highest level. His desire for that led to one of his first major initiatives as Murrysville chief: pursuing accreditation for the department.

The accreditation assessment is made by three members of law enforcement who come from all areas of Pennsylvania. They tour a department, review and assess its policies, interview the chief and undertake ride-alongs with officers as part of the process.

Not only did the department achieve accreditation three years after Seefeld took over as chief, but it is also one of only two police departments west of Harrisburg to be designated in 2021 as a “Premier Law Enforcement Agency,” having undergone three successful reaccreditation cycles.

A new transition

Seefeld said his experience in New Kensington helped him become who he is today.

“I think I grew up really quickly working there,” he said. “I just dove into police work, and once I made sergeant, I found that I liked leading officers.”

That comfort with leadership stayed with Seefeld as he became a police administrator.

“I’ve had the opportunity to hire good people into a wonderful profession, to serve the public and train those officers to help people and have successful careers,” he said. “I love service.”

Kusinsky said his biggest challenge as the new chief will be losing Seefeld’s 40-plus years of experience.

“But he’s set us up with the foundation to keep moving forward as a department,” Kusinsky said.

Ziccarelli said she’s going to make sure Seefeld doesn’t stray too far.

“He’ll be missed, but he promises to remain a trusted, valuable resource,” she said.