Policing is in the spotlight as tensions rise across the country, especially with issues surrounding race. Harrisburg police officers have been feeling that tension as well.

Corporal Matt Novchich has been with the Harrisburg Police Department since 2013. He’s spent most of his career working overnights, dealing with the most violent crime.

“After wrestling with a gentleman out on a second-floor roof as he was trying to jump off the roof with his 2-year-old daughter,” he recalled, “We were able to subdue him and get the child to safety. At one point he latched onto one of my fingers. That wasn’t fun.”

He allowed abc27’s James Crummel to ride along with him, to get a glimpse at what he deals with on a daily basis. Their first call, someone reported a man causing a disturbance. When they arrived, officers already had the suspect in handcuffs. While trying to calm him down, officers need to figure out what to do with him next.

“He might need to go for further evaluation at the hospital or this is going to be mainly alcohol/narcotics induced,” Novchich said, “And in that case, we’ll take him to the booking center. He’ll sober up, get a citation, and be free to go from there.”

Their next stop, a mental health call at a gas station. Dealing with mental health has become an increasing part of the job. So much so, Harrisburg officers had special training to deal with these situations.

“We did different programs, different exercises to put us in the shoes of people that have mental illnesses,” Novchich said, “It just kind of gives us a better idea of how to better approach things, how to better assess a situation.”

Novchich says he’s always wanted to work in a city like Harrisburg, and being involved in the community is key.

“You look at what’s going on country-wide right now, everything revolves around the relationship,” he said.

That relationship has been put to the test in recent months and came to a boil on the night of May 30th.

“I was working when the protests, riots kicked off downtown here,” he said, “Where an incident that occurred thousands of miles away with an officer that had nothing to do with Harrisburg or Dauphin County led to myself, my fellow officers, everybody that was wearing uniforms getting looked at being called murderers and racists. It makes it tough to do the job.”

We’ll hear more on what the corporal experienced first-hand during that protest, his thoughts on the George Floyd video and why he says this is the most difficult time to be a police officer.

Click here to watch part two of this special report.