Leave it to Grandma
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WELLSVILLE – Generally when he was growing up, Daniel Wallace admits that he watched a lot of "Cops" while visiting his grandmother.
"She always made me watch 'Cops' when I would visit her," the Wellsville full-time patrolman admits, adding he also watched a lot of Mayberry and her soap operas.
After graduating in 2017 from Southern Local High School, he earned his degree in criminal justice from Youngstown State University in 2018 and started as a part-time hire for Wellsville almost immediately.
He also works a few days a week for Liverpool Township police as the school resource officer at LaCroft Elementary School; however, he admits that he may be outclassed when it comes to Rock, Paper, Scissors.
"(The elementary school students) want to play rock, paper and scissors almost every day. I pretty much lose every time to every student, because I always pick rock," he said.
Wallace still lives in his childhood home and admits that some aspects of the job still do puzzle him.
"I still am surprised at the amount of people who drive without a license. It is the first thing I noticed," he said.
One of the biggest issues in Wellsville is the drugs -- especially crystal methamphetamine and heroin. He said the problem appears to have staying power due to the difficulty of stopping the flow from dealers.
"We usually get the users (addicts), and it is hard to get to the big guys," he said
Seeing people recover from drugs is close to his heart. After he graduated from Southern Local, Wallace had a childhood friend overdose.
"I was 2 years old when I met him and grew up with him, so it is hard for me to not have empathy," he said.
Grandma, who lives in Pittsburgh, is still a law enforcement fangirl and, with a cop in the family, she has no shortage of interest even now.
"She's always asking for me to share my stories," Wallace noted.