Columbia Borough Police Officer Nate Miller spent nine years in social work before deciding it was time for a change.

Miller enjoyed his time working as a group manager for adults with intellectual disabilities at homes in Mount Joy and Lititz. The experience inspired him to continue down a career path revolving around helping others.

“I loved being a social worker,” Miller said. “I loved doing what I was doing, but I just felt like I could help more of a diverse crowd. I want to help everybody. There's nothing better than going into a call — and even though you think that you barely even help someone — they thank you like it's meant the world to them for that moment. That’s a really rewarding thing to me.”

Another key factor in him wanting to join law enforcement was to disprove negative misconceptions sometimes applied to all police officers.

“I knew that all police officers weren’t bad,” Miller said. “So why don't I kind of get in? I had friends that think they didn't like the police. I can show they're not all bad. That's one of the major reasons I wanted to do it.”

Miller graduated from the Police Academy in Dec. of 2021 and started his policing career at West York Borough Police before moving to the Columbia Borough Police Department. Columbia is closer to his home and is an area he is proud to serve.

“Columbia has its own kind of life,” he said. “People from Columbia really love and respect that area. It's a small town but it's got that big city feel. Everyone knows each other and really cares about their town. I'm here to protect it and make sure everyone's safe and happy.”

He mentioned the solid benefits as another incentive to the job and said the emergency vehicle operation course (EVOC) was his favorite training. There’s one key aspect to the job that he thinks is the most important: communication.

“If you can't talk to people, you're not going to be able to do this job,” Miller said. “I like the concept of being on the same level as everyone and making people comfortable.”

Miller eventually wants to get more involved in illegal drug work, but wants to focus on becoming a well-rounded patrol officer first since he’s relatively new to the field. He also wants to get trained in crisis intervention, which he had some experience with in his job as a social worker.

“I definitely want to get more involved in drug work,” he said. “Right now, I’m kind of just trying to become a well-rounded patrol officer since I've only been on at this department for about eight months now. But drugs are something I want to help stop. I see a lot of people including friends of mine in the past that have died from heroin, things like that.”

Miller likes to unwind from the stressors of the job and take care of his mental health by playing video games and staying fit doing activities with his children like hiking, biking, and playing ball.

He encourages those interested in a law enforcement career to reach out to local police departments for information and feels it’s a great career for those looking to help others. There’s also opportunity to follow specific areas of interest.

“It’s a great career, especially if you want to help people,” Miller said. “There's a lot of opportunities to do different things. Whether you want to get in drug work or honestly anything. I feel like I’m on a real team with this job. I wake up happy to go to work every day, even if it’s 4:45 in the morning.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Sean McBryan, semcbryan@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @SeanMcBryanLanc.