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Anyone who has spent a good amount of time around the Montgomery County Courthouse undoubtedly knows Corporal Daniel Nedzwecky.
The affable command staff member, affectionately known as Nedz, recently celebrated his 18th anniversary with the MCSO, where he's worked mainly in our Courts Division.
Nedzwecky grew up in a family of four in Glenside, Pa. where he enjoyed fishing and "getting into (his) fair share of juvenile mischief." He attended Abington Senior High School where he played baseball. After graduation, he worked at UPS and Abington Hospital. He studied education at Montgomery County Community College but quickly knew he wanted to go in another direction.
As a youngster, Nedzwecky didn't initially have the desire to pursue a career in law enforcement, but he had some family members in the field and knew that they considered it a rewarding career path.
"One of the people I worked with at Abington Hospital actually worked here (at the MCSO) and he mentioned that they were hiring, so I applied when I had just turned 21 and I got called in for an interview and I was hired in November of 2004," Nedzwecky recalled.
Nedzwecky graduated from the Pa. Deputy Sheriff Training Program in August 2005, and after getting his feet wet in the Courts Division, spent time on rotations in transportation, civil and warrants.
Then, he applied for corporal.
"I was probably one of the least likely candidates that anybody thought would be promoted," he said of his move up the chain of command. "I questioned authority a little bit, and if things didn't make sense, I would question them. Whether that was immaturity or if it was truly right or wrong, I would stick to my guns if I felt like something wasn't right. So as I matured... I think I got to be known for trying to bring about change."
Despite his somewhat recalcitrant style, Nedzwecky said his supervisors were approachable and he found himself among a class of four corporals and two sergeants promoted under former Sheriff Eileen Behr.
Nedzwecky said the main distinction between being a deputy and a corporal is "a lot more administrative work and preparation for the schedule."
"It's less hands-on in general, but I manage the day-to-day operations in the courtrooms and at the scanners. For the most part, I oversee courtroom scheduling and support the deputies with whatever they might need."
As part of the Emergency Response Team, Nedzwecky attended SWAT school in Alabama at the Center for Domestic Preparedness; professional training he says served him well during a brief stint as corporal in the warrants division.
Some of his career highlights include the planning and logistics involved in major cases that have come through the courthouse during his tenure:
"I remember Jon and Kate from the TLC show Jon & Kate Plus Eight. Their divorce was handled here and that was like a paparazzi nightmare. And obviously we had the (Bill) Cosby trials —I was one of the corporals who helped plan for that."
"So they stand out. They were great opportunities for us to prove how professional we are. Back with Jon and Kate, we really didn't have anybody that planned for that stuff, There were like 50, 60 photographers running down the hallways. It was chaos. But as we became a little bit more professional in the modern era we started to account and plan for those things and realize there's a way we should be doing things."
A major challenge facing the courts division currently is the wave of major cases just now hitting courtrooms due to a backlog in the wake of the pandemic.
"We've had a murder trial a week, and obviously, some of those are a little more involved. It's never been like that. We've never had back-to-back homicide trials, ever. They always kind of came up sporadically as the cases were called and you might have one or two every few months," he said, heralding the job that deputies have done in the face of unprecedented circumstances.
"There's a lot of positive things about what we do here," Nedzwecky says. "I really enjoy coming to work every day. I love the people here and I like doing what we do...I just have a lot of pride in what we do. We have a reputation for being professional, even with the criminal element we encountered on a daily basis when I was in warrants. You would go to houses in various townships and boroughs and the family would look at you and be like 'Look, I know you had to do what you had to do but thank you for being professional', so that's rewarding — when it's something that's not particularly pleasant for other people, but you leave your mark on it and you're thanked for being a professional."
Nedzwecky currently lives in Limerick with his wife and three children; the oldest in college. An avid outdoorsman, he owns a bird dog and "lives for fishing and hunting." One of the aspects of sheriff's office work he relishes is the steady schedule: "We don't work nights, holidays or weekends generally, so I've always got to see all my kids play sports. I can be there for them. I get a lot of family time, which is not always the case with a law enforcement job.
"I think it's a great taste of law enforcement in general...It gives you an opportunity to see what you can do. From serving warrants and making a difference in your community by getting some people off of the street, to all the interesting things you see in the courtroom like testimony from experts and detectives, you just really get to see a whole lot that you wouldn't normally see in law enforcement so it's unique in that regard.
"If anyone is looking to get into it, it's a great career."
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