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Youngstown's 3 new cops have previous experience
By joe gorman
youngstown
Taryn Perkins and Rory Timlin are following in the footsteps of family members, while Jacob Short and Jeffrey Kay are looking forward to the opportunities a larger police department affords officers.
All four were sworn in as city police officers Thursday in city council chambers by Mayor Charles Sammarone.
Timlin, Short and Kay already have experience and will be assigned a field training officer immediately. Perkins, who served in the Army, passed the civil service exam but has yet to attend the police academy. She will do so beginning in January and will be on the road when she completes the course.
Timlin’s father and uncle, officer Bob Patton and detective Sgt. John Patton, are both officers on the force. He said he dreamed about the swearing-in ceremony for a long time.
“This is a dream come true,” said Timlin, who has been an officer for Youngstown State University.
“It’s really exciting for me,” he added. “It’s a relief it’s here, finally.”
Perkins’ brother, Shakir, is a city police officer, and her grandfather, James Carwell, was a Campbell police officer for 30 years and a bailiff in Youngstown Municipal Court for six years.
She said seeing the respect her brother and grandfather got and gave to others was a big reason she decided on a career in law enforcement.
“People really look up to them,” she said.
Carwell said he told his grandson and granddaughter the No. 1 thing they need to do when dealing with people is to learn their name.
“Call them by their name; not by anything else,” Carwell said he told them.
Short, who has worked for Mill Creek Park MetroParks Police and New Middletown, said he is looking forward to working in the big department because of its variety of possible duties and its opportunities for advancement. He said his experience of 21/2 years will be a plus.
“I can come in here feeling comfortable,” Short said.
Kay, who has been an officer for 31/2 with the Hubbard Township and Hubbard city departments, also said he likes that Youngstown is a large department, and he’s excited that the job is full time.
Chief Rod Foley told the new hires to make sure they follow the department’s motto: Pride, commitment and service.
“If you keep those values as priorities in your career, you will all succeed.”
Foley also thanked Sammarone for helping to keep the department at 152 officers through a wave of retirements. He has said that 152 officers is the bare minimum the department can operate with.
Sammarone said keeping the department staffed is part of trying to stabilize neighborhoods, which he believes are the core of the city. When Foley started, Sammarone told him to give him a bare minimum he needed to do an effective job and he would make sure that number was met.
Thursday’s new hires give the department 11 new officers for the year. Two were added in October 2012, nine other officers were added in May 2012 and six more in November 2011. Since Foley became chief in September 2011, the YPD has added 28 officers. There are no plans for any more hires this year.