When Andrew Derouin isn’t responding to crime and conflict on the streets, he’s a family man. You can find the father of three on a run with his daughter or helping with a Scouts service project at 3rd Avenue Park in Glen Burnie.
Derouin works as a police officer in Prince George’s County and serves as a Scoutmaster for the Anne Arundel County -based Troop 446G for girls ages 11 to 17. He lives in Glen Burnie with his wife, Kim, and three children, Aiden (16), Anna (13) and Will (12), where he was born and raised.
What made you want to stay in Glen Burnie?
We kind of found the house here, and it’s a decent community. There’s a lot going on in the area, so [I] thought it’d be pretty good to [raise a family] there. [I value a community with] parks, decent schools, [a place that’s] a good area, [where] people are out walking around.
What do you enjoy most about being a dad?
Watching my kids grow and helping them as they grow, teaching them how to be little people as they get older. It’s really great when things click for them, when they’re going through things and figure it out, and they just take off from there.
How do you spend quality time with your family?
We spend a lot of time doing Scout things, but otherwise we love going to movies. We have Hersheypark season passes, so we try to go to Hersheypark often. We like to get out and camp; we have a cabin out in the woods. We like to go glamping (glamorous camping) there and spend time fishing, swimming [and] paddle boating. It’s about five hours away, but it’s worth the drive.
What does an average day look like for you?
I’m on a rotating schedule, so I don’t have a set schedule for Monday through Friday, but I work 10-hour shifts. [My daily tasks] can be anything, going out there and helping the community out. I had a call [for service] where I had to help a lady get a salamander out of her closet. [My responsibilities range from] helping [settle] neighbors’ feuds up to violent crime. It’s a dice roll every day.
How do you decompress after a day of work?
The drive home normally does a pretty good job. You’re not focused listening to the [police] radio or calls for service anymore, so [I] listen to a book or the radio and enjoy the ride home, where [I’m] not being talked to by anybody. [I] come home and exercise; that alleviates a lot of the stress. I either run, or do calisthenics or throw around my exercise sandbag.
How do you balance the demands of your career with parenthood?
A lot of communication with the wife and the kids. It’s a little easier with the kids getting older now. We have calendars: Google calendars [and] a fridge calendar. We’ve got all kinds of things going on: after-school activities, and Scouting and meetings, then my work schedule, so it can be kind of hectic, but we make it work. When I’m off of work, we try to do things when we can—go out and spend some time together, find the latest movie or just hang out at home. We have a trampoline and a campfire out back, so we’ll spend time doing what we can when we can.
What do you want your children to learn from you?
Just how to be a decent person, and be able to handle what life throws at them and come out better on the other side. I hope for them to be better than I was. That’s what Scouting really is, for me, trying to have them be a better person. It was very important for me when I was a kid—I was a Tiger Cub and went all the way up to Eagle Scout. When my kids got into Cub Scouts, I was a Den leader there and assistant Cub master. Now, I’m a Scoutmaster with one troop, so [I get to] see [my kids] grow up and be good people. You can definitely see them learn from my wife’s and my direction: work as a team and come out happy.
Family Favorites
Family Meal: Taco night
Dessert: Reese’s Pieces trifle
Vacation Spot: Hersheypark
Local Restaurant: Bubba’s 33
