NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. –
DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania hosted a force protection lecture series which highlighted photos of the 2011 flooding in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and the efforts of the Derry Township Police Department on Oct. 27. The guest speaker was Patrick M. O’Rourke, Sr., former Derry Township police chief and current security manager with the Global Security team at the Hershey Company.
O’Rourke served 33 years with The Derry Township Police Department in Hershey, retiring as Chief of Police. The son of a retired Pennsylvania State Trooper, he was born and raised in Palmyra, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Lebanon Catholic High School.
During his tenure with The Derry Township Police Department, he served in the Traffic and Patrol Section, K-9 Unit, Criminal Investigation Section, Motorcycle Unit, the Dauphin County Crisis Response Team; and spent eight years in an undercover capacity, conducting narcotics trafficking investigations in conjunction with federal, state and local authorities.
Following receiving post 9/11 training for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense, O’Rourke’s area of expertise rapidly evolved in the Incident Command System, the National Incident Management System and Crisis Management. He received his Chemical/Biological training from Louisiana State University, Radiological/Nuclear training at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Explosives training at New Mexico Tech and Weapons of Mass Destruction Tactical Commander training from Louisiana State University.
He holds an associate’s degree in business management from York College of Pennsylvania, a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Eastern University, and he is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command and several executive leadership programs at Penn State University.