[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 5, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           IN RECOGNITION OF POLICE CHIEF KEVIN SANZENBACHER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. BARBARA COMSTOCK

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 5, 2017

  Mrs. COMSTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Police Chief Kevin 
Sanzenbacher of the City of Winchester which is located in the 10th 
Congressional District of Virginia, and, as he nears retirement, ask 
that our colleagues join me in thanking him for his extraordinary 
service to the Winchester community and to our nation. After spending 
most of his career in various public safety positions in Maryland, 
Kevin Sanzenbacher became the Chief of Police of the City of Winchester 
in November of 2008, and in eight remarkable years, he has led the 
department to a new level of public service and professionalism.
  As a strong advocate of community policing, Chief Sanzenbacher set 
the example for his officers by constantly being a part of the 
community, extending himself beyond what would be expected of a police 
chief by taking on responsible roles in charitable organizations such 
as the United Way and participating in community meetings to learn from 
average citizens how they and the police could work together to make 
their neighborhoods more safe. As a proactive leader, Chief 
Sanzenbacher also implemented a Teen Night at the Youth Development 
Center and a Teen Citizen's Academy to develop a closer bond between 
law enforcement and young people and give them a good place to spend 
some time each week. He also responded to society's challenge of 
dealing with the mentally ill, by assigning officers to the City's 
award-winning Community Response Team that has developed personal 
relationships of trust with the mentally ill citizens of the city.
  In response to the devastating impact of the heroin epidemic, Chief 
Sanzenbacher organized a variety of informational meetings about the 
epidemic, including one that I requested, and played a leading role in 
establishing the Northern Shenandoah Valley Substance Abuse Coalition 
and the Drug Court that has followed. He also took action to establish 
a partnership with the local chapter of the NAACP to deal with a police 
incident that divided the community and to develop greater long-term 
harmony among various racial groups.
  As a champion of greater professionalism for his officers, Chief 
Sanzenbacher led the effort to attain accreditation by the Virginia 
Department of Criminal Justice in 2009 and to be reaccredited in 2013; 
he took the lead in forming the first Winchester Police Department 
Honor Guard in 2014; he implemented a standardized fitness testing 
program for all sworn officers through which all were declared ``fit 
for duty''; he managed to obtain a grant for the purchase of body-worn 
cameras and he created defensive tactics training and fitness rooms for 
the employees of the Department. In 2009, Chief Sanzenbacher, Jim 
Wilkins, Jr. and other community leaders started the Winchester/
Frederick County Law Enforcement Foundation in order to provide funding 
for National Night Out, Kids and Cops Camp, law enforcement training 
and scholarships for worthy students.
  Chief Sanzenbacher is the first to acknowledge that his many 
accomplishments were the result of efforts of his entire team of 
capable, energetic professionals, yet, despite his self-effacing 
humility, there is no doubt that it took his special quality of 
leadership to accomplish these things. Mr. Speaker, I ask you and our 
colleagues to join me in honoring and thanking Police Chief Kevin 
Sanzenbacher for his extraordinary contributions to the City of 
Winchester and to our nation, and in wishing him and his wife, Estelle, 
great success and happiness in the next chapter of their lives.

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