OFFICIALLY ON THE JOB … New Patrolman Zachary Fackler is sworn in by Bryan Mayor Carrie Schlade.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
It has been a busy time in the Bryan Police Department in regard to hiring new officers. Currently, there are 21 officers in the department, but within the past year, six have been hired to join the force.
“We just had those spots open, and we were working on trying to get those spots filled,” said Bryan Police Chief Greg Ruskey. “So, we had a couple of officers leave us a few years ago, and they just did some transfers to various departments.”
Along with the retirement of a police officer two years ago, things are definitely working out within the department.
Last year, the police department hired three new officers, Emily Anne Cox of Bryan, Brogan Vance of Ney, and Dillion Schwiebert of Deshler.
This year, three more new officers were sworn into the department, including Jacy Wagner of Fayette, Zachary Fackler of Bryan, and Hunter Graziani of Ney.
Wagner was the most recent department hire, being sworn in July. “We were able to get this group hired in,” said Ruskey.
Ruskey pointed out that five of the six new officers had graduated from the Northwest State Police Academy. “Two out of the three officers last year were hired out of there, and this was their first appointment,” said the police chief.
The Northwest State Police Academy held its graduation last year, and from that class, the police department hired Cox and Schwiebert. Vance later joined the force after having prior experience out of Defiance County.
The department would eventually hire Wagner, Fackler, and Graziani out of this year’s Police Academy graduating class.
“One thing the city has done besides from opening up the residence requirement to try to entice hiring these young officers out of the academy,” said Ruskey.
“The city had passed a resolution last year that if we are the first appointment for these officers, and they stay on with us, they basically reimburse them the cost of the academy up to an x-amount of dollars over the course of the first three years. That’s proven to be very beneficial so far.”
One of the advantages of being a new officer in Bryan is having current officers who also serve as instructors at the academy. “We are fortunate of having a couple of officers here on their off-duty time for side projects and details,” said Ruskey.
“They’re instructors for the academy, and they have that direct contact with the students. Those students would engage them, and they’ll talk about the department.”
The police chief added that two of the officers participated in a ride-along, and two others were already in the auxiliary program. Once they received their Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy certificate, they would become full-time officers.
After being sworn in and hired, the new officers will go through a field officer training program which lasts 12 weeks and enables them to grow within the department with various tasks while being on one year’s probation before finally becoming a unionized police officer.
“It’s a huge morale boost,” pointed out Ruckey. “Officers aren’t having to work all the extra overtime they were having to do before. It’s just nice seeing – having a wide variety of officers with different areas where they want to engage in law enforcement.”