Open house set for Friday afternoon
A white board in Lt. Rick Herring’s office at the Bellefontaine Police Department lists three priorities that he aims to instill in his staff, both for new recruits and seasoned police officers, relating to the areas of focus that a successful police officer should keep at the forefront — relationships, communication and decision-making.
Now quickly approaching his retirement date June 1 after nearly three decades of service to the department, his careful dedication to building those priorities in his personal and work life, and serving as a mentor to a number of officers and watching them grow has provided a most rewarding career for the 1981 Bellefontaine High School graduate.
“Thinking about retirement, it is bittersweet,” said the eight-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran, who also plans to serve as an auxiliary BPD officer upon his retirement. “I’ll miss the people. Those relationships get deeper with some people; I get to work among some of my dear friends.
“I also feel like the officers here are my own kids. It’s been such a great experience to watch them enter the department and then move through the ranks.
“It’s a great field to be in and there are so many specialties that officers can pursue, so many ways to be successful,” he said, listing a number of specialty areas, from detective work to narcotics, canine, school resource officers and bike patrol.
The police department hosts a public reception to honor Lt. Herring from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, May 28, at the Bellefontaine High School Distance Learning Center.
Police Chief Brandon Standley expressed appreciation to his longtime co-worker for his profound influence on the department and the community as a whole.
“I would just like to thank him for his nearly 30 years of service to the City of Bellefontaine and its residents. Rick has played a variety of roles for the police department, including being a DARE Officer, Hostage Negotiator, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and supervised numerous employees in supervisory roles.
“Rick was hired in 1991 and moved through the ranks to the Executive Officer position. Rick was key in training and mentoring the last few employees that we’ve hired. He was helpful in the hiring process and his opinions helped shape decisions for the organization. He will be missed.”
Upon his high school graduation, Lt. Herring entered the Marine Corps and said following boot camp and about two years in school for radar systems, he was stationed in El Toro, Calif., working in avionics and on the F4 Phantom and F18 Hornet. He also served as an instructor in those radar systems.
While in the Marines, he was able to pursue a favorite pastime as well — playing softball as a member of the All-Marine Softball Team.
“It was a lot of fun, playing teams from the West Coast to East Coast, and a lot of good memories,” the longtime local youth sports coach said of being on the team.
Despite the excitement and interesting work with the Marines, the city native said he knew he wanted to raise his family in Bellefontaine, so in 1991, he moved back to the Logan County area, “where all of my family was located, my grandparents and all of my extended family,” he said.
It was a chance meeting with his aunt, who worked in the mayor’s office, where he heard about the police department offering testing to hire new officers.
“I was always interested in public service and thought that would be a great way to be a part of the community,” he said.
After being hired by the Bellefontaine Police Department, Lt. Herring attended the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Academy and received his peace officer certificate Dec. 6, 1991.
Just days later, he married his wife, Gloria, on Dec. 9, he said of his eventful week.
He first served as a patrol officer and then also began hearing about a DARE officer position, which immediately sparked his interest.
“I earned my bachelor’s degree in technical education while in the Marine Corps, and working with kids has always been my passion,” the upcoming retiree said. “It’s a role that I knew I would love, being able to work in the DARE program.”
Lt. Herring related that Officer Dave Stidam began the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program locally, and during the 1990s, the program was made available through the Bellefontaine Police Department for students at Bellefontaine Schools and also Calvary Christian School.
“I wanted DARE to reach as many students as possible to be successful,” he said. “We were able to expand it to reach students in kindergarten, first-grade, third-grade, fifth-grade, seventh-grade and ninth-grade.”
Helping to instruct the summertime Safety Town to local youngsters was another related experience that Lt. Herring enjoyed. While stopping by Safety Town last year, he said he was approached by a mother who told him he had been her Safety Town instructor.
“Those relationships that I was able to build with the children, their parents and the schools — that really stands out when I look back,” he said. “Those relationships also helped when I moved back into a patrol position.”
The father of two daughters and a son said after about 10 years working as a DARE officer, he was promoted to sergeant in 2001 and worked as a third shift patrol supervisor.
“It was a whole different group of people that we interacted with on third shift, and we worked to build those relationships, too. You develop a respect with the community, and most of the time, they’ll return that respect back to you.”
Receiving his promotion to his current role in 2013, Lt. Herring said his goals have included supporting Chief Standley and his mission and the department, and being a resource to officers and members of the agency — “growing them, teaching them and training them.”
His roles include serving as the administrative lieutenant and overseeing the DARE program and school resource officers. Adding the second lieutenant position with Lt. Chris Marlow to oversee operations in recent years has been a big help with the workload, Lt. Herring related.
With his retirement just days away, the nearly 30-year employee said his plans are for the next chapter of his life to be filled with “faith, family and friends,” noting that he is looking forward to spending quality time with his best friend — his father, 79-year-old Robert Stanley Herring of Sidney, and their shared love of fishing, hunting and spending time outdoors.
Enjoying extra time dedicated to his wife, children and nine grandchildren, with his 10th grandchild set to arrive any day, also puts a grin on the lieutenant’s face, who has their photos all around his office.
“It is exciting,” he said. “While it’s going to be a big change, I’m looking forward to still being involved here as an auxiliary officer and I won’t be going far away from any of my longtime friends.”.