Athens Police Department welcomes Andrew Reece, 22, and Joe McGrew, 25, as it’s newest hires, continuing to solve its shortage of staff members.
One of the Athens Police Department new hires, Andrew Reece, would stay up at night with his police officer dad while he recounted his daily stories from work to his son.
Reece, 22, and Joe McGrew, 25, are joining APD, following training, in efforts to solve its shortage of staff members.
APD Chief Tom Pyle said the department should be staffed at 25 total officers, but currently 23 of those positions are filled.
Pyle added that — despite the addition of two new officers to APD's ranks — by the end of October, the department might be down to 19 functional officers.
"It comes at the cost of the physical health of the officers because they're working really hard," Pyle said.
Although APD hired two new officers, Pyle said in the long run, overtime hours won’t decrease. He added that with more officers, comes more overtime hours, which includes desk work as well as patrol duty.
“Our overtime isn’t just for coverage. We have overtime for training. We have overtime for court. We have overtime for meetings,” Pyle said. “The more people you have, the more leave you have.”
Pyle said he is still in the process of hiring new officers but could not comment on how many he is considering.
“We’re able to provide what I would call 'the bare minimum service,'” Pyle said.
While APD continues the hiring process, Pyle said the two new hires show great potential for the department.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="3e3f48ee-5749-11e5-91cd-77c4b160e372"}}
“I think they’re both young and eager,” Pyle said.
While the nightly talks lead Reece to take the same career path as his dad, McGrew had an initial interest of flying aircrafts for the Army.
When a benign heart murmur increased his risk of fainting, McGrew changed career paths, turning to public service as an alternative.
For Reece, the allure of the job lay in its unpredictable nature.
“There’s no other job where you can go to where the only thing you expect is the unexpected,” Reece said about a career in law enforcement.
Though Reece enjoyed tales from his dad while growing up in Piqua, Ohio, he eventually found himself attending Hocking College in 2012. While attending school, Reece worked to earn his associate's degree in natural resources in law enforcement while also attending basic training.
Reece is currently training in the dispatch center and earning $22.77 an hour.
“My time I spent down in this area really kinda grew on me,” Reece said.
As he made his way through basic training, APD Capt. Ralph Harvey became one of his instructors, launching Reece’s ties with APD.
Reece said an email exchange between the two brought the job position to light, prompting Reece to apply.
“I applied and, almost a year later, I’m back,” Reece said.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="64de651e-ab43-11e4-a5f0-db66e9edcb26"}}
In his short time with APD, Reece said he can already tell it’s a tight-bonded family, and see’s work more like a family setting.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="64de651e-ab43-11e4-a5f0-db66e9edcb26"}}
“Everyone here so far has been great to me,” Reece said.
Reece said his favorite part of Athens is it’s cultural diversity, pointing to the different types of people one can find in Athens.
“You can’t find that anywhere else,” Reece said.
McGrew — who hails from California — grew up in Little Hocking and attended Ohio University.
When he became a Bobcat, McGrew joined the ROTC department, beginning his trail on the public service career path.
McGrew is currently at the police academy at Hocking College, and is on the track to graduate by the end of December. While he’s at the academy, he’s a paid employee of APD earning $22.77 an hour.
During his time at OU, McGrew studied aviation management, with hopes of flying for the Army. He has a current standing in the National Guard.
Upon graduation in 2012, his heart murmur emerged.
“It’s essentially an innocent murmur, it has really never had an effect on me,” McGrew said. “I am more prone to fainting, but I’ve never fainted ever before in my life.”
After detecting the murmur, McGrew knew he had to find a new career path.
“Realizing that everything I had been working up to all four years in aviation management learning all that, learning how to fly, fixing an aircraft, learning how to fly helicopters, I was no longer able to fly for the military,” McGrew said. “So I had to change up the pace.”
A couple of years out of school, McGrew said he realized public service had always been ingrained in his life. He was raised a Boy Scout and eventually earned Eagle Scout status.
“It’s not just giving back to your community and understanding citizenship but loyalty and duty,” McGrew said.
He learned APD was hiring when Pyle’s son, Jake, was in the ROTC program with McGrew and told him APD was hiring.
“I’m kind of honored to be considered for it without being qualified,” McGrew said.
Pyle said the department has sent people to basic training before, adding that it’s not a prerequisite to graduate from the academy in order to work at APD.
“It’s clearly a civil service testing is what ranks people out,” Pyle said.
Pyle added that the new hires benefit the community, allowing the police force to establish more of a presence and more of a service to the community.
“We’re so far behind in hiring replacements that we need three more people hired, possibly four,” Pyle said.
@Fair3Julia
jf311013@ohio.edu
