Returning Home to Serve

Mansfield, OH — Austin Chaplin didn’t always know he wanted to be a police officer. But once he put on the uniform and served his community, the same community he grew up in, he knew he made the right choice for his future.

“I wasn’t 100 % sure what major I wanted to pursue when I first started classes at North Central State College. I began as a business major and realized that wasn’t going to work for me.” Austin admits. However, then he met Commander Anne Strouth, Associate Professor/Program Coordinator for Criminal Justice, and everything changed. He explains, “Commander Strouth encouraged and pushed me to follow a path to apply for the police academy. And I never looked back.”

For Chaplin, the discipline and straightforward approach attracted him to the police academy.

“I would have to say my favorite part of the police academy was the defensive tactics class,” he says. The defensive tactics course provides students with the basic principles of unarmed self-defense, including how to defend against physical attack, control aggressive behavior, and how to arrest/subdue an individual using the minimum amount of force.

Soon after graduating from the North Central State College Police Academy, Chaplin passed his civil services test and joined the Galion Police Department. “I am from Galion, so that’s where I wanted to be able to serve as a police officer,” he points out. “Most of the cadets I was in class with were hired by local law enforcement agencies.”

For future cadets thinking about joining the police academy at NC State Chaplin gives some advice. He advises, “Just remember this isn’t a 9 to 5 job. You will be out on the streets, working odd hours, but you will be doing the right thing for your community and keeping your neighbors safe. It’s worth it. It’s time-consuming and hard, but it’s worth it in the end.”

The day and night academies begin each fall semester and conclude at the end of spring semester. The application period for the 2018-2019 academic year will begin April 1, 2018.

For more information about the Police Academy go to https://www.ncstatecollege.edu/cms/certificates/police-academy.