Talk About Woodville: Village police chief retiring
For many of the residents of Woodville, Chief of Police Roy Whitehead is the only chief that they’ve ever known, which is not surprising as he has held the position for the last 22 years. According to the paperwork, Whitehead is officially retiring from law enforcement on Feb. 5, although his last day at the office was a few weeks ago.
Whitehead grew up in Toledo and worked for a few other departments, including the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office, before joining the Woodville Police Department as an auxiliary officer in 1994. He was hired as a part-time officer in 1995, appointed to a full-time position the following year, and selected as the Chief of Police in 2001.
“When I first joined the department in ‘94, we were driving an ‘87 Chevy and we were using typewriters,” said Whitehead. “I convinced the chief then to go to computers, back when they used DOS. We were the first agency in Sandusky County to have on-board computers in our cars to run plates and driver’s licenses.”
Police department expanded under Whitehead
During his tenure, the department has gone from a police chief with two full-time officers, to a police chief with five full-time officers, a school resource officer, and a K-9 officer. Whitehead’s long list of achievements also include organizing foot and bicycle patrols, aiding in the preparation for the annual school mock emergency evacuation exercises, and starting “Kids, Cops, Kickball, and Cookout”, which takes place in August before the start of the new school year.Chief Whitehead twice campaigned for the addition of a K-9 unit and was instrumental in raising the funds needed to do so. K-9 Officer Bruno was the first, and after his retirement, current K-9 Officer Raider joined the department.
One of Whitehead’s most memorable cases is that of a 4-year-old girl who went missing. Officers went door-to-door to search for the child, called in water rescue, and asked Elmore’s police department for assistance, only for the girl to eventually be found playing in a closet in her own home, smiling and giggling.
Vision led police to missing woman
“My favorite case is the lady that went missing in the woods a few years ago,” Whitehead said of the day residents of Woodville showed up to help search for the woman. “A local gal told us where we needed to look because of a vision she had. And she was right.” Just a few days before pushing in his desk chair one last time, Regional Director Kim Priestap, from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, stopped by the police department to congratulate Whitehead on his retirement. “On behalf of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, I would like to present to you, in honor of your years of service to the people of Woodville and the communities which you serve, a proclamation in honor of your retirement as police chief of Woodville,” said Priestap. “Thank you very much.”
Whitehead’s post-retirement plans include continuing his real estate career, serving as Woodville’s zoning inspector, seeing his daughter, Alyssa, through high school and college, and traveling with his wife and high school sweetheart, Lori. The Whiteheads also have two sons, Josh and Jacob, who have both served in the military.
Whitehead is also looking forward to restoring the ‘65 Fastback Mustang that he purchased several years ago for Lori.
When asked about his favorite part of the job, Whitehead replied, “all the friends I’ve made in the last 30 years. Working with the officers and talking to the weekly visitors. Feeling like part of the community. I came from Toledo, but it feels like I was never there.”
There will be an open house to celebrate Chief Whitehead’s years of service from 1 to 3 p.m. Feb 3 at the Woodville United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 201 W First St.
Winter Reading Challenge
“The Myth. The Legend. The Library” is the theme for the 2024 Winter Reading Challenge at all four branches of Birchard Public Library, including the Woodville Branch. All ages are invited to participate from Jan. 1 to Feb. 29. More information can be found on the Beanstack app or online at birchard.beanstack.org.
Red Cross Blood Drive
The next blood drive will be noon to 5 p.m., Friday, Jan. 5 at the Woodville Township Fire Station. Appointments can be made online at http://www.redcrossblood.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.
Pancake Breakfast Drive-Thru
The next Woodville Fire Department pancake breakfast will be 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan 14. Breakfast includes scrambled eggs, chunky applesauce, homemade pork sausage, and all the pancakes you can eat. Cost is $9 for adults and $8 for seniors and kids under 12.
4th of July CommitteeIt is already time to start planning this summer’s 4th of July Celebration. The first meeting of the year is scheduled for 8 p.m. Jan 15 at the Woodville Public Library. New faces are always welcome.
Spring Baseball/Softball RegistrationWoodmore Youth Organization (WYO) has opened registration for the summer 2024 baseball and softball programs. The list of registration fees, volunteer discounts, and the link to online registration can be found on their Facebook page @WoodmoreYouthOrg. Deadline is midnight Jan. 31. For more information, contact info@woodmoreyouth.org.
Contact Rene Dix at 419-307-0914 or via email at rene.dix@email.com.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Talk About Woodville: Whitehead to retire after 22 years as chief
