Millersville University Police Lieutenant Arthur White has been in law enforcement for nearly 30 years in Lancaster County.

White grew up in West Philadelphia and became interested in a career in law enforcement and helping people after a good Samaritan assisted him after he was being jumped by gang members when he was in middle school.

“When I was really young in Philadelphia, I walked to my middle school,” White said. “It was quite a distance away from where my house was. Back then they had a lot of gang violence in the area. The gangs were broken up by streets. I had to walk through another gang’s area – even though I wasn’t involved in gangs – they still didn’t like strangers walking through their area. One day I was coming home and I got jumped by like 10 of the gang members.

“But some guy jumped out of his car and helped me. He didn’t know me. He got them off me and I was able to get home. The fact he was able to help me and I was able to get home is what initially started me wanting to get into law enforcement and helping people.”

White started his career in law enforcement in the City of Brotherly Love as a security officer before getting a position with Millersville University Police in 1994.

“I was in law enforcement in Philly, but I was not a police officer,” White said. “I worked for security companies in hospitals and university and different areas. I had a lot of friends that were police officers and I ended up going to the police academy in Delaware County. There were two individuals from Lancaster there that told me Millersville was hiring.”

White applied for the job – and got it – but admittedly didn’t know where Millersville was and got lost on the trip down for the interview.

“I didn’t have GPS back then,” White said. “We had these big maps called ABC maps. Somebody told me to just take Route 30 out to Millersville. I didn’t realize Route 30 had some bypasses and I took the wrong one. I had a friend with me and it was taking a long time. I said if I don’t see a sign for Millersville soon I’m going to turn around.”

White fortunately found his way and has been working in Lancaster County ever since; he’s also worked as a patrol officer for the Columbia Borough Police Department since 1994 and Susquehanna Regional Police Department since 1997.

White has worked his way up the ranks from initially being an officer to now serving as lieutenant with Millersville University PD. He even served as the interim chief for some time.

“I’ve gone up the ladder from police officer,” White said. “I was an interim chief here for a little bit. I’m the administrative lieutenant now so I’m in charge of the administrative functions of the office that deals with parking and security, those are some things that are my responsibility.”

The biggest crime that sparks his interest when he is working as a patrol officer with Columbia and Susquehanna Regional is someone taking advantage of the elderly or youth.

“The serious crimes of ripping the elderly off or someone that does something to a child, that gets me going,” White said. “The higher-up felony crimes are what I like to get involved in.”

White enjoys working on engines and getting out in nature to decompress from the stressors of the job in law enforcement. He’s experienced a wide range of difficult and traumatic events throughout his 29 years in the field.

“I relax outside of work by doing my hobbies,” White said. “I know some officers like to play sports. I’m too old for that now. My stress reliever is with engines and vehicles. I customize vehicles. I like to camp. I have a bunch of four-wheelers, like I said anything with engines. I like to be out in nature and go hiking at least once a week. Pennsylvania is a beautiful place for hiking. My favorite spot is Ricketts Glen.”

He also dedicates his time working with Toys for Tots, which he has done for the past 10 years picking up toys and doing community service during the holidays.

White isn’t fond of the misconceptions that all police officers are bad and that they just want to arrest people and give them tickets.

“Most of us don’t want to abuse our authority,” he said. “I’ve arrested a lot of people in my 29 years. With most officers, 85% of what you’re doing is something to someone that they don’t want done whether it’s arrests, telling them the party’s over, or giving someone a ticket. Having said that, not everyone is a criminal.”

The self-proclaimed city lover has grown to love the rural Lancaster County, even if Route 30 is still a pain to navigate on occasion.

“When I first came up here to apply for the job, I got stuck behind a horse and buggy,” he said. “I was like ‘Oh no, I’m not going to be staying up here long.’ I was going to stay maybe a few years and move back to the city. I started realizing I could flourish here. The comfortable living and having a bit more breathing room – hopefully nobody is spreading manure – but the people and comfortable living has kept me up here.”

White is one of the reasons for that comfortable living and has been a pillar in keeping Millersville University safe for nearly three decades.

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