For 40 years, Georgette Hill has been an integral part of Montgomery County Community College. Beginning as a Criminal Justice major in 1984 through her work today as the Director of the Municipal Police Academy, Hill has championed the Montco Family while guiding the next generation of law enforcement.

“I’ve always had a connection to Montco. I love Montco,” she said. “There always seems to be a connection.”

Hill, a Springfield High School graduate, originally from Flourtown, started at Montco to pursue her associate’s degree before transferring to Temple University. As a student, she was a forward on the women’s basketball team for the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons. During her time at the College, she always knew where her future was headed.

“The reason I came here for a Criminal Justice degree back then was because of the College’s reputation for its Criminal Justice program,” she said. “They were top notch. Any law enforcement officer knows to get their associate’s degree from Montco.”

After transferring and earning a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, she came back to Montco once again. This time to enroll in the Municipal Police Academy.

“I put myself through to get a police job, she said. “Then in 1993, I was hired by the Whitpain Township Police Department and started serving Blue Bell.”

She served the department for 26 years as a patrol officer, during which time she worked as the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., program instructor for nine years with the Wissahickon School District.

In 2003, she attended St. Joseph’s University to earn a master’s degree in Public Safety Management and walked at graduation in 2006.

“I did that to broaden my horizons,” she said. “It’s great to have a degree in Criminal Justice, but I didn’t want to be pigeonholed.”

The College hosted the Whitpain Police Association car show for many years starting in 2001 and Hill worked with the College to organize the events. In 2008, Hill was hired by the College as an instructor for the police academy, which led to the beginning of a 16-year journey at the College that continues to this day.

In 2019, she retired from police work with the intention of teaching part-time and spending more time with her husband, four stepchildren and five grandchildren.

“Then the pandemic hit, and everything stopped,” she said. “The police academy’s previous director retired.”

Hill credits the help of Jane Molt, retired Administrative Assistant, as well as Bob Sands, Part-time Instructor, and Stephen Salera, Coordinator of Public Services Training Programs, for their assistance during the transition.

Hill worked tirelessly to organize a schedule and help the cadets finish the program. She scheduled the firearms range, emergency vehicle training and contacted the 65 instructors in the academy to help the cadets successfully complete the program in August 2020.

With the continuation of the pandemic restrictions, the following class dealt with unique challenges including social distancing orders and working out of the educational gymnasium in the Health Sciences Center. After that, the next class left the gym for a slightly larger classroom. Eventually the cadets moved back to their normal classroom setting.

“It was an adventure,” said Hill.

Hill was hired as the permanent director in December 2021. As director, her focus is on producing the best police officers she can through proper training, she said.

“You need integrity, good morals to be a public servant,” she said. “That’s what the job is. That’s the thought process. Those qualities are what we expect.”  

As she looks back fondly on 40 years since she started as a student at the College, Hill said she’s learned to expect the unexpected.

“Nothing surprises me. Anything can happen,” she said. “Especially with the pandemic. I was going to retire and teach part-time. But this is my niche. I can’t figure a better position than this one. To have an impact on future law enforcement is what’s most satisfying for me.”