Ed Steinmetz’s career in public safety may have begun on the playground, but it has crescendoed into a respected position as an officer with the Cranberry Township Police Department.

“I always played cops and robbers and SWAT as a little kid,” he said with a laugh. “Then when I got to college, I didn’t have a good idea of what I wanted to do, and it started out more on the forensic side.”

Initially studying forensic science at Mercyhurst College, Steinmetz said he turned his interest to the college’s criminal justice program.

“Then, when I graduated, I branched out into the corporate world a little bit,” he said. “I did loss prevention in a couple different places.”

But while Steinmetz said he liked the work, it wasn’t enough.

“I didn’t really get any fulfillment out of it, I guess,” he said. “So that’s when I went into the police academy.”

After graduating the Allegheny County Police Academy, Steinmetz took his first job as an officer for the University of Pittsburgh.

“I worked there in the uniform division for two or three years, and then my last two years there, I was a plainclothes detective — which was really cool,” he said. “I really enjoyed myself down there.”

Steinmetz said the position provided good training for his career with good co-workers.

“And then I started looking for something that might better suit me,” he said.

In 2015, Steinmetz married his wife, Carey, and the couple moved to Cranberry Township.

“Cranberry was an obvious choice for me to put an application in,” he said.

And while Steinmetz also applied to both the Pittsburgh Police Department and the Collier Township Police Department in Allegheny County, choosing Cranberry Township “seemed like a no-brainer.”

“I took the Cranberry job,” he said, “and I’ve been there ever since.”

In his time living and working in the township, Steinmetz said he has been overwhelmed by the support of the community.

“Appreciative — that’s the word I’m looking for — it’s a very appreciative community,” he said. “You don’t get that in other places.”

And the Cranberry Township Police Department, Steinmetz said, is no different.

“I’m really thankful for the group of guys that I have around me, and they make doing the job easier,” he said. “We all help each other out.”

Steinmetz said the officers share mutual respect and support for each other throughout the department.

“If I don’t know something, I can go to a lot of people — almost anybody in the department — and someone is going to have answer for me,” he said. “And I try to do the same for everybody else.”

The township has also provided Steinmetz with ample opportunities for growth and fulfillment.

“There’s opportunities here that I would like to take advantage of,” he said. “I recently took the sergeant tests to be a supervisor and I came close. I didn’t make it, but that’s always something to work toward.”

With its own investigations division, Steinmetz also said he hopes to get involved with more investigative work with the department.

“Like I said, I enjoy forensic work: the latent fingerprints, the DNA, collecting evidence, photographs,” he said. “So there’s opportunities for advancement, which I look forward to trying to achieve in the future.”

And while Steinmetz was unable to talk about some of the cases he was most proud of, he said he takes great pride in his personal and professional growth with the department.

“I don’t have any rank, but the stuff I’ve learned and am able to apply now on the job — the confidence — is huge,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is, since I got here, I was never afraid to jump in to something.”

Recently recognized as a Hometown Hero by the Cranberry Township Sunrise Rotary Club, Steinmetz said it is “an honor.”

“I was really surprised and I’m honored,” he said. “It’s a thankless job, but like I said, this community is a whole different animal.”