Kelly Sabaiduc’s father was a police officer, but he often told her and her sister to become doctors.
Like her father, Sabaiduc became a police officer. She was sworn in the Ohio University Police Department on Nov. 20, becoming the fourth female officer at OUPD. Sabaiduc’s sister is now a corrections officer.
“My father was a police officer and I always looked up to him,” Sabaiduc said. “He was always watching Cops on TV or Forensic Files, and every time there was a female officer on one of the shows, he would call for me and my sister … and even though he told us to be doctors, we ended up following in his footsteps.”
Sabaiduc said she first began her law enforcement journey when went to Cuyahoga Community College for two years to earn her associate’s degree in science. She then came to Ohio University to study forensic chemistry and received a certificate in law enforcement.
“One of the classes makes you do an internship, so I did an internship with the Athens County Sheriff's Office with the detectives, and through working with them, I learned that it’s really law enforcement that’s doing a majority of the crime scene investigations and the case investigations,” Sabaiduc said. “I decided that’s probably the better route that I should go.”
She then went to the Athens County Sheriff's Office Academy and worked for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. She later worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as a natural resource officer.
Sabaiduc said she knew she wanted to do crime scene work, which led her to apply to OUPD. Sabaiduc has a husband and two boys, ages 4 and 1 and a half.
“I applied here last year and decided that this would be a good move for me and my family to come back to Athens,” Sabaiduc said.
Sabaiduc said it has been “really cool” for her to work with other women in a predominately male field.
“For a long time where I worked at the park, I was the only female officer, so it’s really nice to have some other female co-workers to be working with,” Sabaiduc said. “I think it’s really great to have men and women working together at the same time because it opens up more options.”
OUPD Lt. Tim Ryan said Sabaiduc brings relevant work experience from her previous jobs to OUPD and looks forward to seeing her accomplishments in the future.
“Kelly made a great impression during her interviews as being eager to enhance her skills and develop positive working relationships within the Ohio University community,” Ryan said in an email. “We are really looking forward to her future contributions.”
Like all new officers at OUPD, Sabaiduc has been assigned to the Field Training and Evaluation Program for approximately three months, where she will learn the job as she rotates through various shifts and assignments.
