Tuscarawas County law enforcement agencies hiring officers, dispatchers, jailers

Law enforcement agencies across Tuscarawas County are looking to hire dispatchers, police officers and corrections officers.

The locations of the opportunities range from villages to the county's biggest city.

Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said his office is looking to hire a few corrections officers in the county jail, which has been awarded a perfect score on all jail standards by the state for two years in a row.

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"The need to hire has arisen due to a strategic increase in our authorized strength as well as planning for the first quarter retirement of three dedicated officers who are retiring with 31 years of service," he wrote on the agency's Facebook page.

Campbell wrote that jail work is a "challenging but vitally important career that has a direct result on the safety of our community.

"I would argue that it is one of the most important careers," he said.

The sheriff's office will hold a corrections hiring event from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday (Nov. 16) at the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office, 2295 Reiser Avenue SE. Those who attend will have the chance to meet and pose questions to corrections officers. Interested persons who are unable to attend may apply online.

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Other Tuscarawas County police agencies need employees

Newcomerstown, Strasburg and New Philadelphia are trying to hire police officers.

Strasburg Police Chief David Warrick said he has a vacancy for full-time officer. Starting pay is $20.07 an hour.

Newcomerstown police officers’ hourly range begins at $18.09 per hour, according to Mayor Patrick Cadle. They get incremental raises at one, five, 10, 15 and 20 years, and possible additional raises within the yearly budget, he wrote in an email.

Newcomerstown is trying to hire officers for both full- and part-time positions, as well as part-time dispatchers.

The department will experience a change in leadership next year. Village Council has selected patrolman Opha Lawson to become police chief on Jan. 13, when current Chief Gary Holland’s retirement begins.

Lawson will start at $55,000 for the first year and move $60,000 at the end of his first year.

In New Philadelphia, starting pay for officers is $56,518.

Harder to find candidates for police work

New Philadelphia Police Chief Michael Goodwin said the pool of applicants has dwindled since he got hired following his 1983 graduation from Buckeye Career Center's police academy. Then, about 80 people took the civil service exam.

"We're lucky to have eight people take a test," Goodwin said. He is trying to hire five officers by July. Two would fill new positions and three would replace two officers expected to retire and one who has departed.

He said New Philadelphia is now hiring officers provisionally, without giving a civil service test up front.

"Basically, we are not going through the civil service process at this time, but if we were to give a civil service test within a year of that hire, they would have to take the test and just pass it, not be the No. 1," Goodwin said.

"We've found that a lot of prospective hires don't want their current employers to know that they are applying, looking elsewhere," Goodwin said. "If I advertise that I am doing a civil service test, a chief or sheriff from another agency could come, basically, and watch who's going into this testing process and that could cause problems with that employee down the line."

New Philadelphia still wants applicants to be certified Ohio police officers at the time of their appointment. They will have to pass all the other tests that would be given through the civil service process, such as a polygraph exam, background check and physical. An officer must be at least 21 years old, a U.S. citizen, have a valid driver's license and have a high school diploma or certificate of general educational development.

Katelyn Brown enjoys police job

New Philadelphia's recent hires include officer Katelyn Brown, who started work in April after nearly two years at the Strasburg Police Department. She trained at Kent State University at Trumbull.

"I love it here," Brown said. "I love being around people and helping people. I like being active in the community and speaking to people. I think that's very helpful, being able to build the community policing, as they call it, making rapport with other people in the community."

Goodwin said his department hires trained recruits from Stark State College in Stark County and Buckeye Career Center in New Philadelphia.

Buckeye will graduate 10 adults from its law enforcement training academy in May, when 19 high school seniors will also complete the program, according to Shyanne Carroll, Buckeye's public relations coordinator.

The seniors will be too young to become law enforcement officers, who must be at least 21 in Ohio. But they can work as bodyguards, security guards or dispatchers, Carroll said.

"A lot of our students will go into the military and fill that time that way," she said.

Getting extra training as a firefighter or paramedic are also options, as is applying to an adult law enforcement training program.

Adults may enter Buckeye's adult classes in August.

"They have to pass a physical exam," Carroll said. "They have to run a certain distance, do so many push-ups, so many sit-ups. And then if they meet that mark, they do their initial testing."

'We usually have 20 to 30 people sign up for that class, but they can't pass the physical requirements, and then they don't get in," Carroll said.

Training covers 740 hours. Classes are held Monday through Friday, plus Saturday and Sunday for 10 weekends. Classes conclude in May.

Online applications for the New Philadelphia Police Department, Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office and Newcomerstown Police Department may be found at: www.newphilaoh.com, ApplicationofEmployment.pdf (tuscarawas.oh.us), and Welcome to the Official website of the Village of Newcomerstown, Ohio - Police Department Application (newcomerstownoh.com)

Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com.

On Twitter: @nmolnarTR

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Law enforcement agencies looking for officers, dispatchers, jailers