Manor Township Police Officer Steven Haas grew up in the jurisdiction he now serves and graduated from nearby Penn Manor High School, but he never imagined he’d be back working in his hometown as an adult.

“When I joined the Army in 2009, I swore I’d never move home,” Haas said. “I lived in Texas for a long time and trained all over the country and world. When I got out of the Army, I lived in Philadelphia and even then thought I’d never move home. But it was truly the best move I’ve ever made.”

Haas joined the Army after high school and was deployed in combat in Afghanistan in 2012. He was an infantryman for eight years and his last duty assignment was as a recruiter in Philadelphia, where he remained after he got out of the Army.

Haas then attended the Philadelphia Police Academy to become certified as an officer and was hired by the Philadelphia Police Department, working in the city’s 25^th district.

“We saw it all in Kensington,” Haas said. “Robberies, murders, rapes, it was all violent crime. I think experiencing that and my time in the Army made me a better cop because I’m disciplined and have gotten a lot of life experience.”

Haas had just missed the Lancaster County Chiefs of Police Association hiring consortium before he applied to the Philadelphia Police Department. One day he was scrolling on the police app and saw a job opening at Manor Township.

“I believe that everything happens for a reason,” Haas said. “I saw on the police app that Manor Township was hiring. I had to apply and three months later I started.”

Over a decade after he left for the Army in 2009, Haas was back in his hometown.

“I would say 50% of the calls I go to, I know someone,” Haas said. “Sometimes that can be bad, but most of the time it’s good because they know me from high school, hunting, fishing, whatever it might be. A lot of times I can make a situation better because of my knowledge of the township and people in the area.”

Haas always had thoughts of becoming a police officer in the back of his mind; he had a family friend who worked for the Lancaster City Bureau of Police and knew he’d enjoy the fast-paced nature of the job especially with his military background.

“Helping people is a great part of the job, but I knew I needed to choose a career that I was out on my own and could largely control my schedule,” Haas said. “During my time in the army it was constant go, and I knew I needed to find something that matched that energy. I like the variety. I could never do a repetitive job where I sat in an office and knew what was on my agenda daily.”

Haas is proactive in deterring impaired driving and drug crimes, which his background and energy makes him very successful at.

“We aren’t just out there to ticket and arrest people,” Haas said. “If you are a good person who made a mistake, I will give you the benefit of the doubt where I can. I’m not out there to write tickets my entire shift. I genuinely care about Manor Township, because I was born and raised here. That’s why I work tirelessly to keep drugs and impaired drivers out of the township.”

He loves his job, but also enjoys his time off to travel, hunt, and fish. His main outlet for managing daily stressors of the job is working out and likes to get outside as much as possible. Policing, like many jobs, can have its positives and negatives, but Haas believes the pros outweigh the cons.

“It’s a rewarding job with great pay and benefits,” he said. “You will truly feel rewarded when you are able to help members of the community, or by making an arrest on those members of society who need to be arrested.”

After leaving Lancaster County to join the Army back in 2009, Haas vowed he’d never move home. Now as a sixth-year officer back serving his hometown, he recognizes all the county has to offer.

“Lancaster County has so much to offer,” Haas said. “You have the city which has changed and now has a big city vibe. If you go out to the eastern end of the county it’s rural with farmland. It’s a great place to live and I would recommend it to anyone.”

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