Akron’s men and women in uniform are on a mission: to find and recruit 50 new cadets for the police force.
Sgt. Michael Murphy heads up the recruitment task force and has been with the Akron Police Department for 15 years. “Becoming a police officer was never in my plan,” he says. “I went to the University of Dayton to play football, came back home and started working at Sterling Jewelers, trying to figure out what my path was going to be.” He grew up in West Akron and went to St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, graduating a year ahead of LeBron James. After returning from Dayton, he debated going back to complete his degree at The University of Akron. But fate stepped in, and he joined Akron Police.
His primary responsibility is to supervise the other patrol officers. “I sign off on the paperwork and conduct use of force investigations, so anytime an officer may have to tase someone, tackle or punch them,” he says.
Detective Dawn Forney took a different route than many of her peers after graduating from The University of Akron with a communications degree. She worked in the dispatch room and joined the force because she wanted to go on calls and help people.
Forney is now a 27-year veteran of Akron Police, mainly working as a patrol officer, but she became a detective four years ago. “It’s an exciting job. You get away from being behind a computer, and you’re going to experience things that most people aren’t going to get to experience,” she says. “The camaraderie — that’s a big thing too.”
Officer Jeff Ludle and Forney graduated from the academy together in 1995. Ludle’s first day on the job was Christmas Day of that year. He says the job has changed today because of the evolving role of technology.
“The job is different now with all the eyes,” he says. “Bodycam video is stored in the cloud, and we face situations where we need technology. When you hit your taser, the camera comes on. When you hit the siren in the car, you might not be thinking of turning your camera on.”
Ludle has been driving the patrol van, transporting prisoners to the jail most of his career. He says that the department only runs one transport van per shift to help free up the arresting officers to finish their paperwork. He also trains rookies to operate the patrol van as part of their 13-week field training. “Once the rookies start getting toward the end of their probation, they come with me so they can learn how to work the wagon because it is a little different than the cruiser,” he says.
Officer Damber Subba started with Akron Police in 2018 after being a translator for the city of Akron to help communicate with the Nepali-Bhutanese community in North Hill. Subba says he acts as a sort of “cultural broker” for the Akron Police, primarily when they work with Nepali-Bhutanese immigrants. “I can relate to their struggle,” he says. “Many fear the police because we didn’t trust the Army in Nepal’s refugee camps.”
These exemplary officers stress that the Akron Police is a great opportunity that’s better than many other municipalities because you are paid the minute you enter the police academy. Officers come from all backgrounds, ethnicities and genders.
Akron Police has more than 425 police officers on the job, working in 20 departments, so there’s room to grow into many roles. While it is not the largest metropolitan police force, it is considered a midsized force with one of the country’s top internally-run police academies.
Murphy and his team are looking for at least 1,000 recruits to take the written exam by July 7 and 8 to qualify 50 cadets. The academy will be split into two classes of 25 starting this fall. Akron Police encourages veterans, women and minorities from 21 to 40 to apply.
“The police force is like a big family,” Murphy says. “It begins at the police academy. Those are people you end up spending the next 20 to 30 years with. You build those friendships in the police academy, which carries throughout your career.”
For more information go to
akronohio.gov.
