By Samuel Ruxton • Posted April 15, 2025

 

We’ve all seen the buddy-cop formula played out in movies and TV. Two grizzled veterans of the force, a ride in an unmarked car, an animated discussion that quickly develops into a volatile debate. Voices raised, faces flushed, over a topic each man feels strongly about.

Here’s what we have never seen: Those raised voices, the flushed faces, debating matters of faith, hope, and charity.

“The Eucharist is probably one of the best debates we’ve had,” Sal LaMantia said recently.

A nine-year veteran of the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office, LaMantia and his partner, Justin Sturkey, make up the Sheriff’s Community Outreach & Public Engagement (SCOPE) Unit. SCOPE is under the overall direction of Sheriff Frederick Harran, whose support LaMantia and Sturkey credit for its success. The two-man team focuses on assisting citizens facing a variety of challenges, from addiction, to homelessness to mental health challenges and in some cases, all of the above.

The work requires regularly driving around in their police vehicle together, where they often resume an endless string of religious debates that, both men say, has only fortified their Christian beliefs.

“We’re yelling at each other sometimes,’’ said LaMantia, a devout Catholic who briefly attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary after high school. “Yelling at each other about the Gospel, the Eucharist and its interpretation. Church fathers, the validity of the Papacy, the validity of there being only one true Church – which is what I believe. But he challenges me in such a way where he knows the Scripture, you know that he knows what he believes and why he believes it.”

“I find them comical,’’ said Sturkey of the “car-guments.” A devout Protestant, he looks forward to their give-and-take. “They’re great conversations, And the Lord’s always the center of it all.”

‘Men of God with Badges’

It’s an understatement to say Sturkey and LaMantia are not your typical cops. Nor did they arrive at their current roles under any grand career plan.

After leaving the seminary, LaMantia was a corrections officer and a police officer in Yardley before joining the Bucks County Sheriff’s Department. Sturkey, a father at a young age, was a Christian man looking for a career, and when the opportunity to attend the police academy arose, he took it.

As a deputy, Sturkey said he embraced the typical mission to keep the streets safe, to hold the line. But over time, this wore thin. The cycle was the same — people in, people out, no real change. And so, when the opportunity came to create the SCOPE unit, to be a part of something different, he took it.

What he didn’t expect was how much that decision would change the way he saw… well,  everything.

That change came amid the nationwide and community unrest that followed the George Floyd death. The world was calling for reform in law enforcement, and Sturkey, along with fellow Deputy Todd Kessler began discussing a new concept – one focused on forging connections with the community. That would become SCOPE, a program with the three core pillars that have defined the program since: mental health support, community outreach and self-care for officers.

Eventually, Kessler returned to the courthouse, Sturkey needed a new partner. He had known LaMantia for years and pushed for him to join the SCOPE team.

“He is such an honest, pure man of God,” Sturkey said. “He’s just a good human being, and there’s not many of them out there. And, he can handle himself. I’m very blessed to have him as a partner.”

Said LaMantia, “My love of Christ grew because I was able to witness Justin’s love of Christ. That really just bolstered the friendship to the point where when we had the opportunity to work together, it was just a no brainer.”

‘You Guys Are Narcs’

Like Sturkey, LaMantia looks more like some of the people they come into contact with than cops. Tattoos, beards, bodies built from hours in the gym. Baseball caps worn backwards. And clothes to match. “We often hear the same thing — `You guys are Narcs,’ Sturkey says. “We laugh it off, but once we start talking to people, they begin to understand what we actually do. When they hear our stories, their reaction is always the same — surprise.

“`Wait, there’s a unit dedicated to helping people get back on their feet? Helping them stay out of the system and out of trouble?’”

To do this requires building lasting relationships. They work with individuals long-term, working to ensure they stay on the right path by helping with court issues, securing resources like food and clothing, and connecting them to services that can change their lives.

Each day begins with a simple routine: Justin and his partner pick up coffee, review their list of individuals in need, and prioritize visits. Their focus shifts fluidly based on calls from schools, social services, or the community. Whether assisting troubled youth, individuals struggling with mental illness, or those experiencing homelessness, their work is deeply personal, deeply vocational, and highly responsive to the needs of others.

Their goal, they said, is not just to help, but to transform and uplift.

“The truth is, we rarely have negative encounters with the community,’’ LaMantia said. “People respect our presence because they know we’re not just here for enforcement — we’re here to help.

“But there’s a key difference between what we do and what a social service agency does: authority. Social workers and outreach programs play a crucial role, and we work alongside them as a team. But they don’t have the authority we do. Because of that we’re able to connect with people in a way that ensures both safety and respect.”

‘Hope Matters’

Of course, not every story has a happy ending. They recalled how one individual, with whom they had built up trust over a year, suddenly decided the pair were part of some conspiracy to force him into treatment. The pre-existing mental health issues that both men thought they had broken through, resurfaced, and quickly. Ultimately, he refused to even speak with them.

They haven’t quit trying though. They still drive by his place, hoping to see him. They still pray for him regularly.

“This job teaches you a tough lesson: even when you do everything right, you don’t always get the outcome you hope for,’’ Sturkey says. “But hope matters. We’ve seen it. And that’s what we try to bring—hope. So, we keep showing up, we don’t disappear.

“Because this isn’t just a job. It’s a calling.”

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