Michael DelaneyBGPD captain

Western Kentucky University recently recognized a Bowling Green Police Department captain for his leadership role in the community.

Michael Delaney, a 13-year veteran of the police department, was the community recipient of the President’s Award for Diversity on Monday during the school’s opening convocation.

WKU established the award 11 years ago to recognize members of the community who demonstrate leadership and achievement in advancing diversity at WKU and the communities served by the university. Each year the university recognizes a member of the community, a WKU employee and a WKU student with this award. Employee Ann Mead and student Trenton Dunn also received diversity awards.

Delaney is a 1988 graduate of Warren Central High School. He also attended WKU. At the police department, he commands the critical response team, the second shift and supervises the motorcycle patrol.

In the community, Delaney is one of the founding members of Black Men United, a 2-year-old mentoring group for young men who need positive role models. Delaney is also involved in a WKU freshmen mentoring group to help students adjust to life away from home.

Delaney helped found Black Men United after his involvement with the Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee when a young man told him that he didn’t know one successful black man locally. That’s when he got together with other professional men to form the group.

“It’s just a passion that I have,” Delaney said. “It’s my part of giving back to the community.

“I’ve been blessed to have someone show me the right way and put me on the right path,” he said about his mother, Barbara Clark, who raised him as a single mom.

“I think in this day and age, there’s a lot of broken households. Even in two-parent households … there’s nobody raising the kids. They are having to raise themselves. We have young men in the group who have both parents and they still come because the dad isn’t the role model he needs to be,” Delaney said.

In addition to the two mentoring groups he is involved in, for 10 years Delaney has volunteered time at the Boys & Girls Club in the afternoons. He has recruited other police officers to shoot hoops with the kids. Delaney has also worked as a Police Explorer adviser.

“I’ve always tried to be a positive role model,” Delaney said.

“My position helps in the mentoring process,” Delaney said about being a police officer. “Typically the profession is a character builder. You can show kids if you stay on the straight path, you can make a good living for yourself.”

He was “shocked” to receive the community award.

“I never did any of this for recognition,” he said.

Delaney sees the real fruits of his labor in the future after the kids he has worked with “make a positive contribution in the community.”