In part two of James Crummel’s ride along with Harrisburg police, Corporal Matt Novchich speaks about the arrest and death of George Floyd, the protests that spawned, and the future of policing in the city.
“All it takes is one. We go from being frontline worker heroes during the covid pandemic to 10 minutes later we’re racists and murderers. It’s tough,” said Novchich.
George Floyd’s death and treatment by police in Minneapolis sparked outrage around the world.
“We go through training all the time on positional asphyxiation,” Novchich said, “It’s written in our general order and our policies. We all saw it and we were sitting there going this is bad.”
Novchich says chokeholds are banned in Harrisburg. But that didn’t stop demonstrations from erupting here. On Saturday May 30th, peaceful protests turned violent in the capital city. Novchich was called in to control the growing crowds. At one point, protesters surrounded a police vehicle with an officer inside. Novchich and his team formed a barricade between the car and the crowd.
“It was at that time objects started getting thrown,” he said, “At one point one of our officers got punched in the face. Somebody had taken a flagpole and smashed in the windshield of the vehicle we were trying to get out, the back window got smashed out, things were getting carved into the side of the police unit. It was about 20 minutes of us being face to face with protesters and agitators getting spit on and cursed at, called every name in the book. It was an experience that I’ll never forget.”
Still, he says he never questioned whether the job is worth it.
“No,” he said, “If anything it almost makes it even more of a steadfast belief that the need for police be able to provide people the freedoms to protest.”
Novchich says this is the hardest time to be a police officer.
“I look at something like that in Minneapolis,” he said, “There’s never been a time I sit here and worry about that here in the city. I look at this department, I look at the guys that I work with. The guys are out here doing the job and doing it right.”
But there’s always room to improve.
“It’s an ever-evolving job,” he said, “We need to continue to be learning.”
Novchich is passionate about protecting this city and dedicated to helping others. Even with these divisions, he says he still has hope and is proud to wear the badge.
“I’ve gotten more gray hair now in the last seven months between a child coming along and being a supervisor,” he said, “I still get up and I still enjoy what I do.”
