I am just a good old Toledoian, born and
raised in this community. Now here’s a funny short story: In
my early boyhood days, I focused on being a police officer.
At times I would play the role of police officer by lining
kitchen chairs up, with two in the front and two behind to
represent a police car. I then retrieved one of my mother’s
large pot tops, as the steering wheel, then seated myself in
the left front chair, representing the driver’s seat.
I would imagine driving a police car on an
emergency run while making siren noises. I then would make a
screeching noise, as though my imaginary police car came to
an abrupt stop. I would get out of my seat, grab one of my
brothers playing police with me, and make him sit on a chair
in the back. Sometimes my brother would start crying, saying
he don’t want to play anymore. I would tell him to "shut up,
you’re under arrest!"
Well, until my mother walked into my theater
of police operations, throwing her authority around, making
me break up my fantasy, as she snatched my steering wheel
making a dense dinging sound up side my head! LOL!! My early
days of in-house community policing.
After graduating high school, honoring Uncle
Sam’s draft pick, attending and graduating from the
University of Toledo, I became a police officer with UT
Police Dept. I am also a graduate of the 21st Police Class,
Ohio Police Officers Training Academy. I then was hired by
the Ohio Dept. of Liquor Control, assigned to the
enforcement division. During this time, I attended and
graduated from the University of Louisville Southern Police
Institute.
I attended a host of state and Federal
training programs, including the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center located in Glynco, GA. After promotions up
the chain over the years to Agent-In-Charge of enforcement
operations for NW Ohio, I received an appointment as deputy
director of Ohio Homeland Security and later the
Investigative Unit, Ohio Dept. Of Public Safety.
I was an Executive Board member of the FBI’s
Joint Terrorism Taskforce, I was a senior member of the
Federal Great Lakes Hazard Coalition and the senior manager
and coordinator for the Federal Automated Critical Asset
Management System (ACAMS) that oversaw the protection and
security of over 900 critical infrastructure sites and
systems in Ohio.
Over half of my life has been dedicated to
protecting and securing this great state of Ohio. I believe
collaborative partnerships between the private and public
sectors with genuine sharing of information are the key to
achieving success in any protection and security mission. As
the president of the Toledo Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle
Club, Inc., I share my experience and knowledge in helping
make the communities we touch aware of current potential
risks and how to mitigate such risks. This is the short of
the long, which spans some 36 years. See you thought all I
did was eat and ride my Harley.
Again I am soooooo excited and honored to be
selected for the Law Enforcement Hall Of Fame and the
"Distinguished Service Award." I truly hope I have been a
positive influence in someone’s life along the way. Thank
you to all those that took part in this awesome achievement.
Damn, I thought no one could keep such a secret from me. I
guess I need a higher clearance!
