Longtime Middletown Police Sergeant Retires

When Mark Wert became a Middletown Township police officer 33 years ago, he drove a sedan with bench seats, a radio and a clipboard. Every single call had to be  logged by hand.

When Wert retired recently after all those years on the  force, things were a bit different. Purpose-built police cars had computers synced with databases and the overall technology behind police vehicles had improved and expanded.

“The neatest thing about today is the technology,” the sergeant said. “I didn’t think we’d ever have computers in the cars.”

“It used to take a guy off the street for a shift (at that time Middletown police worked eight-hour shifts) if he had a DUI crash. Today, it can take three to fours to finish everything.”

The technology wasn’t the only thing Wert, a Croydon native and current Middletown resident, saw change over his three-decade-long career.

“Crime changed over time in Lower Bucks. All of Lower Bucks,” he said. ”When I started there were a lot of bar fights and domestics. Now, there’s a lot more drugs and weapons.”

Wert, who retired as a 16-year sergeant on August 1, joined Middletown’s police force in 1981. His hiring came after years of service in the military, much of his time as a police officer. His intent was always to become a police officer, he explained.

He recently recalled to LevittownNow.com his “baptism by fire” as a sergeant came in 1997 when a man engaged in a standoff with police officers at the Chesterfield Apartments.

“It was my first major incident I was in command of. It happened late at night, and we had two guys pinned down by their car.”

After six or seven hours, the shooter was taken into custody. Wert said he believes the man was attempting suicide by cops. No one was hurt, but Wert said several police cars did have bullets holes in them.

He also noted traveling to Houston several times to  testify in a major federal drug case was a highlight of his career. Despite never being called to testify in the case, Wert said it was an interesting experience that started with a drug arrest in Bucks County.

Noting a somber event in his career, Wert recalled the day Detective Christopher Jones was struck and killed by a vehicle while conducting a traffic stop on Route 1. Jones was working on Wert’s duty shift that day.

“When I heard the call, you just don’t think about it. You go there,” he said.

In the days following his colleague’s death, Wert said he thought about retiring.

“I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore.”

However, Wert decided to stay on the force and made the decision to retire in June. He said he had turned 60 and was dealing with a bout of lung and brain cancer.

Due to his cancer, Wert said he was confined to mainly administrative work. He duties included working with PennDOT and local schools. However, he did enjoy working the streets when the scheduled on-duty sergeant was out.

Wert said he recently had a surgery for the brain cancer and received radiation. Doctors recently told him he is “doing good” and his lung tumors have shrunk.

“I made it 33 years (on the Middletown police force) but my goal when I was hired was 35 years,” Wert said with a chuckle.

Wert will be married to his wife Donna for 40 years come December. The couple has three sons – Mark Jr., Brian and Timothy – and five grandkids. All three of Wert’s sons are involved with the William Penn Fire Company in Middletown.

Wert said his final days at the department gave him some time to step back and realize how lucky  he is to have based his career in Middletown.