Current Position: Staff Sergeant at Lower Gwynedd Police
Story Last Updated: October 2016 Current Position Updated: March 2019
Being among the oldest freshmen on the Sumneytown Pike campus didn’t deter Mike Gargan and Paul Kenny from getting their bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice, and neither did the fact that it took them seven years to do it.
“A class would graduate we would still be there. Another class would graduate and we’d still be there,” Gargan said recently.
Gargan and Kenny had both been working for the Lower Gwynedd Township Police Department for almost 20 years when they first began their studies at Gwynedd Mercy University in 2003. They needed the education to further their careers, and the police department allows officers to take classes while on the job. A perk like that made GMercyU – located less than two miles from police headquarters – even more appealing to the pair.
“We can be on duty and be at school, and there’s no other college close by where we can do that. It was a great fit. I’m very happy with Gwynedd Mercy University,” Kenny said. “We would take classes in the summer; it was around the clock, it was a long process.”
The flexibility offered at GMercyU made it possible for Kenny to enroll in FBI courses while still working toward his undergraduate degree. Those classes are helping him in his new role as Police Chief.
Both officers said they were happy to earn their bachelor’s degrees at home in Lower Gwynedd Township.
“I would say it’s the community that makes it really fun to be here. They like us being around and it’s a great relationship we have,” Kenny said.
The officers graduated from Gwynedd Mercy University in 2010. Kenny became Police Chief in June 2013 and Gargan, a patrol Sergeant for the past 12 years, is currently taking graduate courses at St. Joe’s University.
