The year was 1969. Crowds flocked to Woodstock, the United States started withdrawing troops… The year was 1969. Crowds flocked to Woodstock, the United States started withdrawing troops from Vietnam, and Pitt police chief Tim Delaney took his first steps into the Allegheny County Police Academy.

He would go on to join the Pitt police as a guard in 1972. Years later, he would become the chief.

The decision to become an officer, he said, was a fairly simple one.

Delaney said he was following in his father’s footsteps. He is the second of three generations of Delaneys to be affiliated with the University. His son attended Pitt’s School of Law and his niece was a cheerleader here.

“I’m the poster child for Pitt,” said Delaney.

But Pitt wasn’t just a part of his blood. Working forPitt allowed Delaney to improve his community.

“I’m a product of the ’60s,” he said. “When you’re young and you’re looking to make a change, you become the system.”

Since joining the force, Delaney said one of his hardest tasks has been keeping the Pitt police up to date with the day’s problems.

It’s a challenge he’s particularly prepared to meet.

“I’ve always been open-minded to new trends, and [I haven’t] been afraid to try new things,” said Delaney. “That mental approach helps.”

He said he once tried to introduce Segway scooters into the force and then decided against it. Instead, he introduced bicycles.

Delaney said the Pitt police were skeptical about the bikes because it rains frequently in Pittsburgh, but he took the chance.

He took a bicycle from the lost and found, painted it white and assigned an officer to it.

“[The law] encourages freedom of thought and freedom of speech, and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t do the same,” said Delaney.

The demands of Delaney’s job occasionally change dramatically since he joined the force, particularly since Sept. 11. But for this officer, that’s just half the fun.

“Tomorrow’s always something different,” said Delaney.

“There are challenges, and you must move to the challenges. Never would I have ever imagined that 9/11 would occur. Some of the things we [experience] now, 20 years ago we would never have believed.”

Delaney said Pitt students “tell you what you need to do here.”

He asks them questions and then weighs the advice they give him.

“I have trouble realizing that I’m the chief of police,” said Delaney. “I’m very open.”

He added that he has no idea why students are sometimes intimidated by him.

In fact, he said he goes out of his way to meet them. Delaney often introduces himself to recruits and their parents while they’re touring Pitt.

“That little touch that I like to call ‘Pittsburgh’ goes back [with them],” said Delaney.

He also takes the opportunity to lecture students on the emergency notification system. Students, he said, should be sure to sign up, and they should list their parents as their third contact number.

“I don’t think any of the students wanted me to do that,” he said.

“They’re your parents. But when people [are] in California and something happened in Pittsburgh, they want to know what’s going on.”

Delaney said he also uses the department’s Web site to keep in touch with the University community.

He said he can’t tell who is looking at the Web site, but he does know that, on average, more than 900 foreigners visit the site every month.

“You may not be able to see me or find me, but you’re still in contact with me,” said Delaney.

Delaney said his job gives him the opportunity to meet all sorts of people, including celebrities.

He’s met politicians Hillary Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama and actors Bill Cosby and Mickey Rooney.

He’s also met a prime minister of Poland in the 1970s.

Delaney said the diplomat and his family were touring the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning when he realized the couple’s teenaged daughter was missing.

One woman from Pittsburgh found the girl and was trying to talk to her, but the prime minister’s security was so restrictive that they held her back.

After a few minutes, the security guards realized the woman was speaking Polish to the girl. She was just trying to help.

Delaney called the incident “ironic” and “kind of fitting” and said that incidents like that keep him fresh.

“Something’s always happening here, always,” said Delaney.

“That’s what keeps me young. You can’t get stale in this environment.”