At first, he wanted to become a fireman but after a couple of years, he changed his mind and wanted to become a police officer. Jimmy MacIntosh, a lieutenant at the Riverdale Police Department, has been working in Riverdale for 24 years.
“When I was a kid my best friend’s dad was chief at a police station. So one day they invited me to the station and his dad told me that he thought I would make a great police officer. So I thought about it, and I really liked the idea so I stuck with it. And as you see now I am the lieutenant.”
Before his life as a police officer, MacIntosh served five years in the Marine Corps. This helped him get a job as a police officer.
“The hardest part of being in the Marines was definitely boot camp, where they prepare for you to be in the actual Marines. They woke you up at five in the morning sometimes even four, they yelled in your faces, they insulted you in front of the whole class, they wore you out with all of the exercises they made you do, it was truly horrible. But in the end, it all paid off because I was so proud of myself. My family and friends were also really proud of me. It also taught me a lot of good things, for example, discipline, how to respect others, and it showed me that with teamwork we can all accomplish great things.”
After 24 years, MacIntosh has gotten many crazy and scary calls, but one of his scariest calls was in 2013 when there was a bank robbery in Pompton Lakes and he was chasing the person who had committed the crime. After a couple of minutes, MacIntosh and three other patrolmen found him in a parking lot trying to change his license plate. They found out that this person was in a gang located in Paterson and was armed with one handgun.
“Well, there was always a possibility that one of us could get shot or ambushed by other gang members. We didn’t know at the time if the guy was armed or had other people in the car with him. To be honest, I didn’t care if I got hurt. I was scared that something was going to happen to my other men. I kept thinking about what would there families say? How would I tell their families such tragic news?”
After six years of being lieutenant, MacIntosh said, “I feel really excited to finally get out of this place and move to Florida. I am going to definitely miss ordering my guys around and helping them with the problems they have on the road. But the only thing I truly hope for is that the new lieutenant I choose will take care of my guys as I did for so long.”
“He is definitely one of the best lieutenants we have had at Riverdale. Whoever is going to be the new lieutenant has a lot of learning to do and a lot of high standards to meet” said Sergeant Robert DiGirolamo, one of the police officers in Riverdale. Clearly, MacIntosh will be missed by many in the community of Riverdale.
January 21, of the year 2020, is when our beloved lieutenant for the Riverdale Police Department is going to be retiring. He will be moving to Smyrna, Florida where he will be a security guard at an elementary school.
