David Murphy ends 23 years in law enforcement
By:Roger Alvarado
In less than two weeks Lt. David Murphy will gather his belongings, turn off his office light and close his door one last time, marking the end of his 25½-year career in law enforcement.
In December, Lt. Murphy, 49, announced his plans to retire Feb. 1.
On Friday, he will be feted by current and former colleagues at Pheasants Landing, and for Lt. Murphy the realization that his days with the force are close to being over has suddenly begun to set in.
"It really hit me today (Tuesday) when I realized that my retirement dinner was going to be Friday," Lt. Murphy said. "I was like ‘wow.’"
However, he feels it’s the right time to move on.
"This is a good time in my life to make this decision," he said. "I’m young enough to still enjoy the things that I want to do and am looking forward to it very much."
High among his list of things "to do" will be fixing up his Franklin Township home.
"I raised two teenage boys (Brian, 20, and Kevin, 18) in my house and it needs a little remodeling," Lt. Murphy said. "I’m going to paint and wallpaper it and plan on doing some other remodeling around the home for the next several months."
Lt. Murphy began his career working as an officer in Westfield. On June 1, 1981, he became a patrolman in Hillsborough.
"From patrol, I was made a juvenile detective and then a corporal in the Juvenile Bureau," Lt. Murphy said. "From that position I was promoted to sergeant in the Patrol Division … and was also sergeant in the Services Division, where I oversaw the training and community policing operation within the department."
Lt. Murphy was subsequently promoted to the rank of lieutenant, where he worked in both the Services and Patrol divisions before gaining the title of investigative division commander, which he currently holds.
"What we do is oversee all follow-up investigations and also process applications for firearms," Lt. Murphy said.
Over the course of his career Lt. Murphy has received several command citations for his work during crisis periods in the township, including Hurricane Floyd. He also received the departmental medal of merit for his work with youth, something that he says he’s extremely proud of.
"Originally I was part of the ‘adopt a cop’ program, which is similar although not the same as the DARE program," Lt. Murphy said.
As an officer, Lt. Murphy would go into fifth-grade classrooms and answer questions from students about drug abuse and peer pressure.
He says that the moment he gained the most satisfaction occurred many years after he’d helped out a high school student while a juvenile officer.
"I recall helping a girl out in high school going through a personal problem of a criminal nature," he said. "She came back to see me years later, when she was very settled, and thanked me for what I had done."
Lt. Murphy says he really enjoyed the working relationship he established with the local community and school district.
"When I was in the services division I had the opportunity to meet with a lot of residents (as part of the neighborhood watch program)," he said. "There were a lot of different organizations that I planned events with, and I always had a very good working relationship with all the representatives of the groups I worked with."
As a former police liaison, he says he "truly enjoyed working with the school system," then under Dr. Robert Gulick.
Two memories one happy and one sad stand out among his many moments as an officer, Lt. Murphy said.
"My third week on the job, I delivered a baby, so that obviously was very rewarding," he said. "On the other side of that coin are the more difficult things that a police officer would see. I had to let a family know that their infant child had died of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) on Thanksgiving Day. Those are the things that pop into your mind.
"It’s a wonderful career. It has its ups and downs and has provided very well for my family," he said. "And now I have the opportunity to retire and I’m going to take advantage of that opportunity."
Chief among the things that Lt. Murphy says he’ll miss most will be the camaraderie he’s built up with his fellow officers over the years.
"Without a doubt that’s something that you’re looking at and saying ‘well financially it does not make sense to stay.’ But while that may be true, it’s very difficult to leave the friends you’ve made and the camaraderie that goes along with the good working relations you develop over the course of 23-plus years," he said. "It is difficult."

