By Paul J. Condra
For the 38-year-old Jacobsen, who was born and raised in Malverne, the promotion comes after serving as acting chief for the last six months in the absence of Chief Garrigan, 69, who has suffered from health problems.
I've been very fortunate, Jacobsen said. This is the logical progression. Jacobsen said being the chief of the Malverne Police Department has been a lifelong goal.
Jacobsen entered the New York Police Department in 1984 as a deputy in Brooklyn.
Malverne was the job I really wanted, but the New York job was the one available, he said.
After 18 months with the NYPD, Jacobsen became a Malverne police officer, was promoted to sergeant in 1994, then lieutenant in 1997.
Jacobsen said he was pretty sure
he would be made chief when Garrigan retired. Garrigan served as chief of
the department since 1972, but was approaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. He was not present at Jacobsen's swearing-in ceremony as he was away on vacation.
The new chief said he intends to foster the growth of the intimate community he learned to love throughout his life.
People grow up here, then they go away to college, then they come back again to start families. I want to keep that happening, said Jacobsen, married for 10 years, and the father of four children ages 6, 8, 13, and 15.
I like to think of Malverne as mired in the 1970s and 80s in its quaintness and character, he said.
Jacobsen said one of the biggest
compliments he has heard is when
somebody compared Malverne a
village of about 10,000 people, smaller than
most universities to the idealized
Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show.
In his younger days, Jacobsen said, he wasn't sure if the rosy image satisfied his romanticized notion of being a cop. But over time he began to find great pleasure
in the community policing of a small town and hopes to get all of his 22 officers just as interested as he is.
I've never been bored here, he said of the job where most calls involve domestic disputes and auto accidents. Violent crime is virtually non-existent.
Rather than worry about mid-town shoot-outs, Jacobsen said he will concentrate his energies on things like establishing partnerships with local schools, instead of just having a reactionary relationship with them.
Another example of community
policing was demonstrated in the days
following the Sept. 11 attacks when Malverne police, not responding to
any particular emergency, spent the
days walking the streets of the village and being visible in an effort to soothe
a climate of apprehension. The department is also holding fundraising events to assist local victims of the Trade Center attacks.
We really all felt the loss and the connection to the city when that happened, Jacobsen said, adding that many Malverne officers were at Ground Zero to lend a hand.
For Mayor Panzarella, there wasn't any doubt Jacobsen was the right man for the top cop post.
Glen comes in with a lot of ideas
on how to improve the department, Panzarella said. When I came to the village board in 1996, he had just wrote a
grant that brought in several hundred thousand dollars and that impressed me off the bat.
The mayor said Jacobsen's appointment was met with unanimous approval by the board of trustees, which looks forward to bringing in his youthful energy.
We're not sending the old guys out to pasture, Panzarella said. [But] I was looking for youth.
Jacobsen will earn a salary of about $111,000.
