There’s a new officer, and she’s a Bobcat!
For the first time in at least five years, the Ohio University Police Department has more than one female officer on the force.
The department hired Natasha Lorenz, a recent Ohio University graduate, two weeks before Fall Semester started.
The number of female officers employed as full-time officers accounted for 11.3 percent of police officers in 2003, according to a Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics report.
Lorenz was the first recruit of the five additional officers OUPD seeks to hire this year, said Lt. Tim Ryan, OUPD’s head of criminal investigations. The proposal to hire more full-time officers was approved as part of the FY2015 budget at the June Board of Trustees meeting.
The budget included $430,000 in new funding to OUPD, according to OU spokesperson Katie Quaranta. Of that, $407,754 will be allocated to hiring the five additional officers. The remainder will be channeled to the bomb-sniffing dog, uniforms, equipment and training for the new officers, Quaranta said.
OUPD detective Brittney Cottrill, who was the only female officer before Lorenz was hired, said she is excited about the new recruit, saying Lorenz will be an asset for the department.
Cottrill also is hopeful about the prospects of more women joining the ranks.
“I think it helps in a lot of ways with dealing with the public or the victims,” Cottrill said. “Some victims, especially female victims, may prefer to speak to a female officer as opposed to a male depending on the nature of the crime. Being diverse in that aspect could potentially help to better solve crimes.”
Cottrill, who worked with Lorenz during move-in weekend, said that although Lorenz has yet to complete academy training, she is eager to learn.
“I think she will fit in nicely with our department.” Cottrill said.
OU Police Chief Andrew Powers also agrees with Cottrill, saying that Lorenz has all the makings of being an enthusiastic and “fantastic” officer.
This is the first time Powers has had two female officers on his force since becoming chief in 2009.
He said the department is hard-pressed to get a diverse pool of applicants — both in terms of gender and ethnicity — as many academy graduates in Southeast Ohio are white men. To overcome that, Powers said, OUPD is trying to recruit outside of Southeast Ohio for diverse applicants.
“As we continue our recruitment process every year, we will continue to strive for the most diverse applicant pool that we can in terms of our future hires,” he said.
Ryan said Lorenz is currently attending the police academy at Hocking College.
“Upon her graduation, she will be assigned to the Field Training and Evaluation Program for approximately 14 weeks,” he said.
Ryan said Lorenz is earning $18.54 per hour while she is in the academy.
