Lower Providence Honors Abington Grad

The Lower Providence Township Supervisors honored Lower Providence Police  detective Stephen L. Rowe for his 25 years of service at a meeting late last week.

Rowe's family, friends and fellow officers were in attendance.

Standing with Rowe was Lower Providence police chief Francis Carroll and board of supervisors chairman Rick Brown.

Prior to presenting Rowe with a statue, which had on it inscribed the township’s recognition of service, as well as a watch with the township seal on its face, Brown read aloud many of Rowe’s achievements and career highlights.

Rowe is a 1978 graduate of Abington Senior High School. He served six years as a military police officer in the United States Army, achieving the rank of sergeant E-5.

Rowe graduated from the Pennsylvania State Police Academy Southeast Training Center. There he received the American Legion Award as the Most Outstanding Cadet in his class.

Rowe began his law enforcement career as a patrolman with the Perkasie Borough Police Department. In September 1987, Rowe was sworn in as a police officer of the Lower Providence Township Police Department.

While serving in the department, Rowe was involved in the Patrol Division, Traffic Safety Unit, Detective Division, Police Honor Guard and the Bicycle Patrol Unit. Rowe also served as a tactical operator for the Lower Providence Township Special Operations Unit and the Central Montgomery County Emergency Response Team.

He is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Inter-County Detective School, and is a certified accident reconstructionist. Rowe was said to have distinguished himself through his assignment as a Computer Forensic Examiner at the FBI Philadelphia Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory (RCFL) from November 2007 until January 2012, as on of only two Montgomery County municipal police officers in that assignment. Later in the presentation, Rowe said it was a privilege that Carroll chose him for the assignment.

Brown said that Rowe achieved the distinction of Assistant Quality Assurance Manager at the RCFL, where he was responsible for reviewing and approving the casework of all of the examiners in the laboratory.

Rowe has been awarded five Distinguished Unit Citations and has received numerous letters of commendation for his actions.

Carroll then spoke of the positive impact he has had on the Lower Providence community.

Carroll, in reviewing Rowe's file, said he found a large collection of notes, cards and letters of gratitude from residents. He noted that the collection did not just recognize Rowe's competency as a police officer, but also had a recurring theme to it.

 “And, that recurring theme is courtesy, kindness and compassion,” Carroll said.

While Carroll further described Rowe as a good cop, which he added may be one of the highest compliments one officer may give to another, he also described Rowe as a good man.

“Steve has been an invaluable asset to the department and the community,” Carroll said.

Rowe, in his own remarks, said that it has been an honor and a privledge to be a police officer in Lower Providence Township for the last 25 years. He said that the time seems to have quickly gone by.

“Being a police officer here has been a blessing,” Rowe said.