It was on one of their first calls together when Northern Regional Police Chief John Sicilia knew he had a keeper in Jennifer Abbondanza.

Sicilia was a sergeant at the time, and Abbondanza was new on the job, the last officer he trained before becoming captain. They were looking for an Alzheimer’s patient who had wandered away from his home.

“We’re all searching around looking for this Alzheimer’s patient, and I lost Jennifer,” Sicilia said. “We end up finding her sitting on a porch at some random house in the neighborhood, holding the gentleman’s hand, consoling him. He was obviously upset. He didn’t know what was going on.

“She won me over that moment.”

Abbondanza, 32, will start her 10th year with Northern Regional in May. In January, she was promoted from patrol officer to sergeant, becoming the first woman to attain the rank in the history of the department, as well as those that served Richland, Pine, Marshall and Bradford Woods before the merger.

She didn’t know of her place in history until Sicilia told her.

“That is actually pretty awesome,” she said. “It’s a big stepping stone for females in this career. We’re starting to go into this career a lot more. It says you’re not just stuck on patrol – you can do more, you can better yourself and be a leader.”

Abbondanza lives in North Fayette with her husband, Fred Abbondanza, a state police trooper, and their 2-year-old daughter.

A native of Castle Shannon, Abbondanza said she grew up around police. Her father, Robert Dempsey, was a volunteer firefighter. She earned a degree in criminal justice from the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg in 2011.

“Growing up with them, I always kind of saw them and heard the stories of what was going on,” she said. “I can’t sit behind a desk. I want to be out there, I want to help people. I always wanted to try to be there for somebody when they’re at their worst and try to make things better.

“The most important thing to me is to be able to be there to truly help somebody,” she said. “We’re not here just to arrest people. Our mission is to truly help and be there for the public that we serve.”

Abbondanza remembers a call involving a young man who had gotten on the roof of his house and was threatening to kill himself. Despite being terrified of heights, she got up there and talked with him. Eventually, she and a county sheriff talked him down.

“It made me think, OK, I am capable of doing this job,” she said.

Sicilia, who has been with the department for 25 years, came up through the ranks and become chief in 2019. He encouraged Abbondanza to take the test to become a sergeant — an opportunity that does not come along often.

“I always saw leadership qualities in Jenn,” he said. “I think she’s a role model for all female officers in the region.”

Abbondanza is able to relate to people, and women are more comfortable with her, Sicilia said.

“Jenn has the perfect balance of knowing when to be authoritative and knowing when to be compassionate,” he said. “It’s a fine line to walk and Jennifer has mastered that ability. It’s just in her DNA to be a compassionate person. She has that ability to be assertive when necessary but can flip the switch back and forth easily. Sometimes it’s very difficult to transition back and forth. It’s a natural ability she has.”

Abbondanza is one of Northern Regional’s four sergeants, and is in charge of public relations and is building a program to reach out to the community.

Sergeant is the highest rank she can attain and still be on the road, but it meant giving up a steady daylight shift for a monthly rotation with the other sergeants. It was a hard decision for her family, but she says it was the best one.

“It’s tough now, but in the long run I needed it,” she said. “I wanted to help be a part of making this department grow into a bigger and better department, which the chief is trying to do now. I wanted to be part of that and do everything I can to help everybody find their niche in this department. I want to be one of the ones that helped make this place be the best place that it can be.”

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