Thirty years ago, Michael Conlon was working as an engineer in a Park Avenue building in Manhattan.
But, Conlon said, he always wanted to be a police officer, so he decided to take the Nassau County police test.
After his retirement last Friday as chief of the Village of Kensington Police Department, he said the past 30 years have flown by quicker than he could have imagined.
“It was a pleasure and an honor and I served great people and I enjoyed every minute of it,” Conlon said. “When I look back, it doesn’t feel like 30 years went by but now I look forward to new goals and new opportunities.”
Conlon began his policing career in 1986, serving as a patrolman for 13 years before being promoted to sergeant.
After serving as sergeant for 11 years, Conlon was promoted to chief and lieutenant, the highest rank in the department.
Even as chief, he said, he still handled patrol officer duties such as responding to calls in the field.
“The unique thing about being a supervisor in Kensington is you still perform patrol duties and you’re still out there handling calls,” Conlon said. “The job doesn’t change. You still have to go out there and do the patrol work and day-to-day functions, but you just have to do a little more paperwork.”
Conlon said it was difficult to choose his proudest moment serving because his mindset changed from when he began serving to his final days before retirement.
“When I was a younger cop, you enjoyed the action like the car chases,” he said. “Back in the day when I started, it was the end of the crack epidemic, so you had a ton of thefts from cars at the time.”
As he got older, Conlon said, it became less about the action and more about resident safety.
“I enjoyed seeing the interaction with the residents and seeing we were making a difference with the residents and maintaining quality of life and safety for the residents of Kensington,” he said. “We were able to do that consistently and I guess that is the proudest thing for me.”
The village held a retirement party last Wednesday for Conlon, where he received proclamations for his years of service from the village, North Hempstead Town Councilwoman Anna Kaplan and state Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury).
While he said he was appreciative of the honors, Conlon said he is not sure he deserved all the praise and attention.
“To me, it’s an honor, but I don’t know if I necessarily deserve that honor because all I really did was do my job,” he said. “I was part of a great team and I had a great group of guys working with me.”
Conlon also said he was happy to be leaving the department “on his own terms.”
“Mayor [Susan] Lopatkin had tried numerous times to get me to change my mind,” he said. “It’s very humbling but I know I’m leaving the department in very good hands with the people I’m leaving behind and I know the village will continue to be policed in a very good manner.”
Although crime in the village is not increasing, Conlon said, the rising number of heroin-related incidents on Long Island leaves his former colleagues in a major challenge.
“I can’t say in Kensington there is an uptick in crime but on Long Island, in general, there is an uptick in the heroin epidemic,” he said. “My concern is for the guys still here having to deal with the heroin epidemic.
Conlon said Sgt. Curt Giraulo would take over as chief and lieutenant and appoint a sergeant once he takes his seat as head of the department.
In his life after retirement, he said, he wanted to travel, take up writing and spend more time with his family.
“As a police officer, you tend to miss a lot of family things because of hours and shifts you have to work,” Conlon said. “I kind of want to make up for that.”
He said he would never forget his years serving the village, as 30 years went by quicker than he imagined.
“It was a pleasure and an honor and I served great people and I enjoyed every minute of it,” Conlon said. “When I look back, it doesn’t feel like 30 years went by but now I look forward to new goals and new opportunities.”
Thirty years after joining the Kensington police force, he said he will always remember his years serving the village.
“I’m very fortunate to serve my whole career in Kensington,” Conlon said. “You become very acquainted with the residents, and working with them, you always felt appreciated by the residents.”
