On July 5, Nick Magruder officially took office as the newest Chief of Police at the Athens Police Department, or APD, following the retirement of his predecessor, Tom Pyle.
Once Pyle announced his retirement, the Civil Service Commission developed a test alongside Pyle, Tom Powell, previous APD chief of police, and Andy Stone, service agency director, that gave participants several tasks that mimicked similar duties and scenarios a police chief would encounter. The test was made available only to experienced APD captains and lieutenants.
Despite the intensity of the test, Magruder received the highest score, putting him above the other two candidates for the promotional process of becoming the next police chief.
In late April, Magruder received notice that he was being promoted from lieutenant to police chief; he worked hand-in-hand with Pyle for two months to receive proper training to ensure the transition between chiefs went smoothly.
One of the biggest goals Magruder hopes to implement is making the community of Athens close to the police department. He wants the community to feel comfortable around the police.
“I want to break that stigma when we're there; we're part of the community, truly,” Magruder said.
Also, Magruder said he eventually wants to start a community police academy. He wants to get the Athens community involved with what police officers do by showing them day-to-day responsibilities and explaining to them why police officers do what they do. He hopes to have this option available to Athens community members can create an open conversation.
One of the biggest words in law enforcement training now is emotional intelligence, Magruder said. He plans on focusing on providing his officers with access to training where they can better themselves physically and mentally.
“You got to lead by example, and by leading by example for me now is not going out and taking calls, it's not doing the job, it's providing them access to better training, better equipment and just better overall happiness of this job,” Magruder said.
Pyle, who was chief of police for 11 years, said one of his biggest takeaways as chief was being able to decrease Ohio University’s party school reputation. He worked to create a plan to address the increased violence during fest weekends.
Magruder wants to continue to facilitate and uphold decreasing violence during popular weekends at OU for students, Athens community members and police officers; however, he said he still wants students to have the opportunity to enjoy themselves on the weekends.
“The biggest thing is understanding where (students are) coming from and that allowing them to have a couple of fun weekends is not going to destroy our department,” Magruder said.
Litenuant Thomas Simpson said he expects Magruder to be extremely hands-on when he takes on his new role as chief. He is in the station in the mornings andlate at night, ensuring he sees everyone on each shift, Simpson said.
“I am really looking forward to (how Magruder is) really strongly community oriented and (how he’s) trying to get more involvement back with the officers and the community,” Simpson said.
One of the first things Magruder planned when he came into office was the National Night Out, a national community-police awareness-raising event, which will be held Aug. 2 at the Athens Community Pool from 5 p.m to 8 p.m. Admission into the pool is free.
Magurder said he has always aspired to one day become a police chief, but he didn’t expect to be given the opportunity so soon in his career. He is confident that with his prior training in the police department, he will be able to fully support the Athens community and the rest of his fellow police officers.
“I've always thought about the job and what it can be to be a leader of the department and be the head of it, and it just came to the opportunity where (Pyle) retired, and I was able to score first on the test and just couldn't pass it up,” Magruder said.
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