Chris Hill's Passion Helps Benefit Future Generations of Howell Residents

Having spent most of his life living in Howell, Chris Hill has seen the a lot change in the township. Going from a student in the schools to a respected member of the police department, Hill said he has been proud to be a part of the growth of the town and helping the people he knows and loves.

From the close knit community he grew up in where he said everybody knew everyone to the expansive town with more than 50 thousand people he has been proud of his roots that continue to run deep to this day.

Having gone to and , Hill said he remembers the days when his father would meet him at the door and already knew what he had been doing before he got home. "One of my father's favorite lines that wasn't my favorite lines was when he used to ask how was your day," he said. "That meant he already knew."

These days, as an officer in the Howell Township Police Department and the director of the Police Athletic League, it is usually Hill who knows what the children in the town have done before their parents. 

Hill also remembers the struggles of playing for the Howell High School football team when the mascot would carry the Confederate flag and the band would play Dixie each time the team scored. That, he said is a sharp contrast to having watched his children play sports for the school under the more school oriented Rebel mascot and seeing their success on the field and in the classroom. 

After graduating from Howell in 1978 he spent time playing football at what is now known as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in Thornbury PA. Having worked in his father's construction company, Hill said after college he knew he wanted to get into a different field for his career. "When it rained, you didn't go to work and when you didn't go to work you didn't get paid," he said. Watching 

Watching his brother Myles serve as a police officer, Hill said he realized that was what he wanted to do despite his objections. "He worked a lot of undercover stuff and he said there were two things he didn't want me to do. He didn't want me to get involved with alcohol and he didn't want me to hate the world," Hill said. "I said I can do it and not hate the world and not drink and to this day I've never had a drink of alcohol."

Part of the reason Hill says he is so passionate about his job is the fact that he grew up in the PAL program. "I was able to go and meet the officers and work out and have a good time," he said. 

Hill's involvement with PAL also extends beyond Howell's borders, as he is actively involved in the national organization as well. "My passion now is to get PAL's name out there because we're the only law enforcement involved crime prevention organization where cops and kids work together," he said.

As he sits in his new office at the old Southard School, it Hill said he has found the positives in people and helped them to find it in themselves. "I do meet some of the worst of the worst, but PAL allows me to meet the best of the best," he said. "I meet some kids that are on the wrong track and we help to turn them around."

Since being sworn in as a member of the Howell force in 1990, Hill said he has been fortunate to have superior officers who have shared his passion for helping the children of his hometown. "Chief (Ronald) Carter sees the value of working with kids," he said of the current head of the department. "The more kids that we help now, we don't have to change them later."

Much like Hill, Carter is a lifelong Howell resident and that, he said helps them to work together and understand each other. "It's one of those things where to me he was a good role model because the one thing with him is whether you like it or not he's going to tell you the real deal," he said. "I can't think of a better guy to work for, that's for sure."

Being a full time officer and running the PAL means not a lot of free time for Hill, but he would not have it any other way. "I did my 10 hours and then I still did PAL because that's what I believed in," he said. 

The fact that he can do what he loves in the town that he loves, makes his job that much more special and also that much more difficult. "The good side is you get to help a lot of people and change some lives and direct some kids and for me that's amazing. The flip side is when you have to make arrests or you go to tragic scenes of people you know because you have to keep that police professionalism even though you want to go into the room and cry with them."

Being as involved as he is with the department and with PAL, Hill said that makes spending time with his own family difficult. "If you talk to my wife and my kids and people who know me, I'm never home," he said. "The good thing is I have a PAL family. That includes his wife Rochelle helping out in the office and having his children Chris and Cherelle growing up in the program. 

Every Christmas since Cherelle was four-years-old, Hill said his family and as many as 60 volunteers from the PAL have gone to Kimball Medical Center to bring presents and holiday cheer to the patients. He said it has become a family tradition that the whole family has grown to love. "What I tell the kids is you may be some of these people's only visitors of the day. Make sure you cheer them up," he said. 

Whether they are going to the hospital or just working around town, Hill said the people in PAL are doing something they enjoy to help the people around them. "We do a lot of things, but this is home so anything we can beautify, we beautify for ourselves," he said. "Anytime you can teach a child to give back, you've helped that kid because they're going to help somebody else."

Mrs. Hill said she has known since she met her husband almost 30 years ago that he was a special kind of person. "Chris is loving, Chris is compassion," she said.

She said she sees how important he is to the kids he helps even when that means taking time away from his own family. "It's not easy at all because his commitment is 24/7 with home, with the PAL and even with the police department because it's all connected," she said. "He can get a call at three or four in the morning that has to do with one of his PAL kids and he's up and he's out."

It is his commitment to the PAL kids that she said made her want to get more involved. "He does it because he cares so much," he said. "It makes him happy and it's not for the money, it's not even for the recognition. Even if he didn't get recognized Chris is still going to do it."

In addition to his biological family, Hill said he also has a strong support system behind him at the PAL. "I have a good team of people not only that directly work with me, but people that support PAL," he said. That includes families in town, the township administration and other people that he said are doing it "because we're all trying to do this thing and save kids."

Whether it is his own children or the ones he works with at PAL, Hill said he tries to deliver the same message. "If you're going to do something put your heart into it," he said. 

Being as well known as he is not only in Howell but also around the area and the country, Hill said he knows it is not easy for his family to enjoy time with him when so many people want to talk to him. That, he said is part of the job and another lesson that he tries to teach his children. "People are always watching, so you need to make sure you're on your game and keep yourself straight," he tells them. "We raised them to respect other people and respect themselves because once a kid respects themselves they're not going to be disrespectful of anybody else." 

Knowing people who have gone on to be successful people in the restaurant world, or in the world of sports or whatever their chose profession is, Hill said he is happy to be where he is. "I'm just happy to do what I'm doing because you can't put a price on what I'm doing," he said. "I get to touch lives and we can't save them all, but we can damn sure try."

Hil said he is looking forward to continuing to help the residents of Howell well into the future through the programs the PAL offers and will continue to offer going forward.