On Sunday evening, Police Chief Miguel Dennis took off his uniform and badge, after 5.5 years of service as St. Michaels Police Chief. He’s off to Annapolis, where he will take an Internal Affairs position in the Office of Professional Standards.
As a kid, Miguel Dennis didn’t imagine that he would have a career as a police officer. His dream was to be a football player. But he skipped 8th grade, and when he went to try out for the football team at Baltimore City College High School, the coach took one look at him and sent him home. “You’re too small”, said the coach, George Young, who went on to be the general manager of the New York Giants.
Dennis ended up serving from 1974 – 2007 in the Maryland State Police, where he was assigned to various locations throughout the state. He came to St. Michaels in 2007.
Going from a large agency to being the Chief of Police in a small town wasn’t easy, and there were some surprises along the way. “Politics”, said Chief Dennis on Friday, “as Chief, you’re on 24/7/365 whether you’re wearing a uniform or not – everybody knows you, you’re the most visible person in town. Sometimes, I’d say the wrong thing. But I loved this job”, he said.
And the town of St. Michaels loved him back. Chief Dennis was an iconic image on the streets of St. Michaels, leading every parade, visible at festivals, events, and parties. He has stories of helicopters landing on residential lawns, President George Bush visiting town, and has forged strong relationships with the town’s youth.
Even though he’ll be living in Baltimore County, he’s keeping his Rio Vista home so that he can visit two young men for whom he serves as a mentor. St. Michaels residents can expect to see Miguel Dennis around town on some weekends and for festivals. “I’ve got a lot of friends here”, he said.
Indeed. He knows almost every local kid by name, and has personal relationships with residents and weekenders alike. Even while shopping at Target in Easton, Dennis routinely has kids spontaneously rushing up to hug him.
In his 5.5 years tenure, Dennis immersed himself into the community. He served as the Chairman of the Talbot County Narcotics Task Force, on the local Emergency Planning Committee. He conceived and created Project SMYLE (St. Michaels Youth and Law Enforcement), where local kids receive opportunities to travel and attend sporting and other events. As a MidShore Character Counts coach, a board member of the YMCA Partners in Care and the St. Michaels Community Center, and a Talbot Mentor, Dennis made a serious commitment to St. Michaels.
“I was fortunate”, he said. “I didn’t come from a broken home – my parents were together for a long time, they were there for my brother and I, and we never went without.” His mother, Bernice Dennis, lives in Baltimore County, and came to St. Michaels on Friday for the Chief’s farewell coffee at the town library. She recounted a story about when Miguel and his brother came asking for designer label tennis shoes, their father took one of each of their shoes in hand with a marker. He wrote “Dennis” on the shoes, and said “The name Dennis is as good as any other name out there”. The Chief smiled and agreed “yes, it is”.
“He’s a rockstar”, said St. Michaels Town Commissioner Joanne Clark. Some 60 people stopped in to the library on Friday to say farewell to the Chief, including representatives from all other law enforcement throughout the region.
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