Tuesday, September 21, 1999
New Glendale police chief well-rounded
Music, railroads fill spare his time
BY SARA J. BENNETT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
GLENDALE — Young Matthew Fruchey wanted to be either a rock musician, a railroad worker or a policeman.
He managed to become all three. Now 41, the Mason man plays lead guitar with a '60s band. He's a railroad preservationist. And he starts work next month as Glendale's police chief.
Glendale officials praise his motivational leadership style and his natural ability with people. Mr. Fruchey credits a lifetime spent doing the things he loves best.
Passion and balance, he says, prepared him to move from lieutenant in Madeira's 12-officer police force to head of Glendale's six-officer department.
“My four main passions are my family, railroading, music and police work, and I think it helps to keep that focus,” he said.
His former boss agrees.
“Often policemen only socialize with other policemen and do only policeman things,” said Madeira Chief Gerald L. Beckman. “Matt's guitar playing and his railroading put him with a different kind of person, so he gets to learn their needs and wants and what their complaints are. It really fits well into that puzzle of creating a good environment for everybody.”
Mr. Fruchey started his law-enforcement career in 1981, patrolling the campus of Cleveland State University and then the University of Cincinnati. He joined the Madeira force in 1990.
Along the way, he earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's in public administration.
He graduated from the Police Executive Leadership College. He created a private firm that provides consulting and training for police departments and academies.
The goal: to one day head his own force.
When he learned that Glendale's chief, DeLow Williams, had stepped down in June to take a rank-and-file officer's job, Mr. Fruchey knew it was time to make his move. And Glendale seemed a good fit.
Mr. Fruchey started playing guitar at age 10. He helped create Most Wanted, the Hamilton County Police Association's rock band, and he's now lead guitarist for DejavU. The '60s band plays festivals around the Tristate.
Mr. Fruchey takes his hobbies almost as seriously as work, friends say. That commitment, paired with a desire to see others succeed, should make him a good manager.
“Anything Matt does he wants to do right,” said Tom Oberschmidt, who was Mr. Fruchey's boss at UC. “He was very progressive. He was always looking at new ideas, and he made my job very easy.”
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