Valley's first female, first black police chief understands the impact her perspective can have on community

Oct. 2—SELINSGROVE — Susquehanna University President Jonathan Green said it was deliberate that several members of the campus community attended Selinsgrove Police Chief Shanee Mitchell's swearing-in ceremony in early August at the borough building.

"It's our community, too. We are in Selinsgrove Hall for a reason," Green said, referring to the campus building where he has an office.

Mitchell, a 40-year-old former lieutenant in the city of Philadelphia police department, is the first female and Black officer to serve in a Valley law enforcement department leadership position.

Selinsgrove Council President Marvin Rudnitsky said she was the unanimous choice among three finalists based on her credentials and personality.

Rising through the ranks of the Philadelphia police department while raising three children with her husband, Wesley, Mitchell is an anomaly in law enforcement. Of the nearly 800,000 police officers in the U.S., about 110,000 are female; 66 percent are white and about 13 percent are Black, according to the Census Bureau

"It's a very progressive move," said Regina Russell, a community activist and recent past president of the Greater Susquehanna Valley ACLU chapter in Sunbury of Mitchell's hiring. "So many talk the talk about bringing in diversity and Selinsgrove is walking the walk."

For a community that 21 years ago was featured in The New York Times as being among the country's least diverse, Selinsgrove's employment of Mitchell won't go unnoticed in the Snyder County municipality and wider region, Valley leaders say.

"It's symbolic for the entire community" to have a visible minority serving as a police chief in an area that has little diversity and few women or people of color in leadership roles, Green said.

Mitchell didn't set out to be a symbol when she applied for the position to lead the six-officer force in Selinsgrove, but in speaking with residents she quickly realized her presence could have a positive impact.

Moving from an urban city police force to a small, rural department where she serves as a working chief taking care of all of the administrative duties will take some adjustment, Mitchell said, but she's working with borough administrators and reaching out to peers in the area.

Shamokin Dam Police Chief Timothy Bremigen expects area departments like his will benefit from Mitchell's different perspective as a police chief and said it is the breadth of her law enforcement experience that got her the job.

"It's not just that she's female or Black, but what I've seen with Shanee is that she's listening to what the needs are here," Bremigen said/.

"This is a much smaller community and she's not coming here with a big-city outlook. She's blending her experience. She's got a lot of experience that she can share with (area law enforcement) and she also wants to learn what we do" as rural officers, he said, citing her willingness to work collaboratively as a benefit for the larger community.

City experience

Mitchell's nearly 20 years of working in Philadelphia and her understanding of urban crime will no doubt be an asset, said Union County District Attorney Pete Johnson.

"The experience she has working in a large system can effectively apply in a small one. She'll find her skills may have much more impact here because the size of the system is smaller," he said. "It's a positive addition to the decision-making process."

Kris Brown, assistant director of campus safety at Susquehanna, said he expects to collaborate with Mitchell and appreciates that she has an understanding of the university's unique population.

"She comes from the Philadelphia area where I'm sure many of the beats she walked were at Temple or Drexel," Brown said of the large city universities.

Russell hopes Mitchell receives widespread support from police colleagues and residents, a sentiment echoed by state Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver.

"She's breaking a glass ceiling and I'm sure she'll feel the pressure," Culver said. "Whatever her goals, it's important for us to find out what they are."

As a mother of three children, ages 19, 14 and 11, and a two-time cancer survivor, Mitchell is a role model to many, Culver added.

"It's not an employment that many girls would consider, but she's showing all women, yes, you can have a family and work in this field," she said.

Addressing the issues

Mitchell said she's heard about concerns of a racial divide, including complaints raised a few years ago by Black Susquehanna University students about not feeling welcome in the community, and would like to address some of those issues.

"It takes more than just being another Black person, a Black female. It takes action," she said of her plan to provide bias training and other educational opportunities to officers. "A lot of times we all suffer from (bias) and don't even know it because we don't know what it is."

Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Bob Garrett said the hiring of minorities like Mitchell and Bucknell University Public Safety Chief Anthony Morgan and the election of Lewisburg Mayor Kendy Alvarez is moving the Valley in the right direction. He hopes it demonstrates the region is a "welcoming and open community" as businesses work to recruit more people and employees to the area.

Visible minorities in leadership roles "are foundational to growing our community," Garrett said. "If someone comes here and no one looks like them, sounds like them or worships like them, they won't stay."

In 2000, Selinsgrove borough had a population of 5,383, with a white population of about 93 percent.

Two decades later, the census shows the overall population has grown slightly to 5,713 and minorities now make up about 12 percent. Minorities make up about 18 percent of the student population at Susquehanna University.

As the population becomes more "reflective of the broader face of the world," Green said, it's helpful that minorities living here — including SU students — see someone in leadership that looks like them.

Devonne Tourre, a May graduate of Susquehanna and Maryland native, decided to stay in Selinsgrove when the college offered him a position as a facilities operations coordinator.

An African-American, Tourre said having a Black woman in charge of the local police force could be "reassuring" to other minorities.

"Knowing that someone who has my same skin color is here to help is nice. But that's not to say that someone who doesn't look like me can't be helpful."

The real test, he said, is what Mitchell does in her new role.

"Will she make herself known and what actions will she take" will determine what impact she'll have on the campus community, Tourre said.

Mitchell's influence will also depend on the support she receives, said Michael Dixon, Susquehanna's director of Diversity and Inclusion.

While meaningful, he said, tapping a minority to lead the police department is also just "the first step" and will hold little value if "Selinsgrove stops there."