Dan Ingle: The life of Elon’s own campus investigator
Candace Buckman / Features Editor
Dan Ingle leans back in his chair. His eyes seem to smile as
they look off to the side, reliving old memories. Wrinkles on
his forehead show that he has interesting stories to tell.
It is not every day that you feel warmth from an accent.
Talk to Ingle for only a minute and you will feel the comfort
in his Southern drawl. He is content in his small office, and
if given the chance, he’ll happily tell you why.
His story begins in high school when it came time for him to
choose a college. In 1970, Ingle decided to follow in the
footsteps of his father, mother and aunt by enrolling at Elon
College. He little knew what lay ahead of him.
During the many baseball games in which Ingle played during
his first year of college, his eyes were always focused on
the scoreboard. But he could have cared less about the score.
His only interest was in the scorekeeper.
“Yep, she was the scorekeeper for the team,”
Ingle said, speaking of the woman who became his wife.
“Her dad was actually the captain of the Burlington
Police Department.”
Ingle found himself impatient, and quickly dropped out of
Elon after his first year.
It wasn’t until he reached the age of 20 that he
considered becoming a law enforcement official.
A short time later he was wearing the Burlington Police
badge, a badge he wore for the next 11 years.
In 1984 he saw yet another opportunity. The Town of Elon was
looking for a chief of police. Ingle came back to Elon a
second time, not as a student, but as the new police chief.
He soon discovered difficult days would come along with his
new title.
“One story that sticks out in my mind,” Ingle
said, “is when a 19- year-old went AWOL from the Army
and decided one day that he would buy this young lady he met
some ice cream.”
End the story there and you’re left with an innocent
anecdote. When you are the chief of police, the story ends
with the young man killing an old man after robbing him for
ice cream money. Ingle was named lead investigator of the
case.
He knew the boy would face the death penalty, an issue that
still unsettles him.
“I’ve always had mixed feelings about the death
penalty,” he said.
The 19-year-old received life in prison.
In 2002 Ingle knew that it was time for a break. On Jan. 2
he handed down his title as the Elon police chief.
But law enforcement remained in his blood. He spent a year
as a cold case investigator, supervising more than 40 people.
In January, he took a chance and became Elon
University’s first campus investigator.
“Any type of criminal investigation that needs to be
done on the campus, I do,” he said. He smiles as he
reports that as of yet, there have been no calls for
investigation.
Ingle’s satisfaction with his life is evident in his
speech.
“After 31 years,” he says, “I’ve
done about everything you can do.”
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