P’ville Police Chief Love Retires; Grutzner to Head Department
By Andrew Vitelli – Erik Grutzner has taken over as Pleasantville’s police chief, with former chief Richard Love having retired after five years in the position.
Love, who has been out for several months following a non-job-related injury, officially retired on Monday, Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer said.
“Richie has been with us a long time,” Scherer said. “We’re happy to see him move to whatever he decides to do, and we appreciate his service.”
Grutzner, who grew up in Carmel and graduated from Carmel High School, joined the Pleasantville Police Department in 1994.
“This was my first police job,” Grutzner said. He was promoted to sergeant in 2006 and to lieutenant in 2012.
Serving as acting chief and now as the permanent chief, Grutzner said the position requires a strong presence at events in the village and beyond.
“There’s a lot more opportunity to be out in the community, to represent the department to the people in the community and in the county,” he said. “The best part of this job has always been meeting with people and dealing with people, so I’ve just had to expand my scope.”
Grutzner said he helped launch several initiatives as a lieutenant and looks forward to continuing the department’s progress as chief.
“I’ve always enjoyed dealing with people, meeting new people,” Grutzner said. “Going forward, we will definitely look to train our officers for all the different challenges we face, whether it’s people in crisis to the world that we live in and the threat of terrorism. There’s always training and new smart practices that we have to continually incorporate for our officers.”
Scherer said he is confident the 21-member department is in good hands with Grutzner.
“He’s been functioning in this role for some months now,” the mayor noted. “He started as a patrolman. He was promoted to sergeant, then to lieutenant, and now to chief. He’s well-known to the community, and it’s a story we’re very happy about.”
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