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Friday, 16 May 2008 |
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Staff photo/Mary Bargdill
New Minster Police Chief Randy Houseworth sits at his desk during a recent interview. Houseworth took over as chief following a career in New Bremen.
By MARY BARGDILL
Staff Writer
MINSTER — After just two weeks on the job, a local police chief says he is settling into his new role.
Randy Houseworth, 53, took over the reins of Minster Police Chief on April 28, five days after having been sworn in by Mayor Dennis Kitzmiller and Village Clerk John Stechschulte during a recent council meeting. The position comes with a salary of $56,000.
Houseworth said he has been putting in some long days at the new job, acquainting himself with the various duties of his new job.
“It’s actually been going real well,” Houseworth said. “There’s been a lot of firsts in this first two weeks.”
One of the first orders of business is to fill the remaining positions for full-time officers for the police department.
“We’re still short two full-time officers,” he said. “We’re slowly going through the resumes.”
Houseworth said he has invited candidates to ride along with him in the patrol car throughout the village to get a feel for the community and the job as patrolman.
“(We’re) trying to take our time to find someone who is right for the community and our department,” he said.
Houseworth said there also are four to five openings for part-time officers as well. As a firearms instructor, Houseworth said he plans to expand that role within the Minster Police Department.
“I will be sending one of our officers to be a firearms instructor because I think it’s important to have more than one on the department,” Houseworth said.
To allow some of the youngsters in town a chance to meet the new chief, Houseworth and approximately 75 kindergartners from Minster Elementary School toured the police station and were fingerprinted Monday.
Today, Houseworth plans to meet with students in grades four through eight at the Minster Middle School to talk with them about bicycle safety and curfews.
During a Tuesday evening meeting, Houseworth had an opportunity to meet with several firemen on the Minster Fire Department. Houseworth said he also has attended his first Mayor’s Court and council meeting.
“Sometimes in this job you don’t always see the best of people, but I know that’s the exception rather than the rule,” Houseworth said.
Before his current position of Minster Police Chief, Houseworth served as a sergeant with the New Bremen Police Department under Chief Doug Harrod for the past seven years.
While Houseworth may miss working with fellow officers from the New Bremen Police Department, he said he still has contact, as many continue to fill the gaps left by the staff shortage of the Minster Police Department.
“I see them pretty frequently,” he said.
Houseworth said Harrod and New Bremen police officers congratulated him on his new job by providing him with the new name plaque that sits on his desk. Houseworth said officials with the village of Minster also supported him in the transition to chief, including Harrod’s brother and Minster Village Administrator Don Harrod.
“The people in the administration have been absolutely fantastic,” Houseworth said. “I can’t say enough about my administrative assistant Jamie Schneider.”
In early April, after nearly five months of advertising, Harrod and Kitzmiller approached Houseworth to inquire if he would be interested in applying for position. Houseworth had been one of nearly half a dozen New Bremen officers who assisted the Minster Police Department during the ongoing staff shortage.
Bergman served the village of Minster Police Department for 25 years, including 12 as chief.
Houseworth is a New Bremen native, having graduated from New Bremen High School in 1974. He and his wife Jane (Bruns) originally of Minster, married in 1976. They have three grown daughters, Amy, Katie and Jettie. They also have seven granddaughters and one grandson.
While they still reside outside of New Bremen, the couple is looking for a home in Minster, Houseworth said.
Following basic law enforcement school at the Peace Officer Training Academy in Lebanon, Houseworth served as a full-time officer on the New Bremen Police Department for 23 years. He began his career in 1978 and 1979, as a part-time officer. From 1979 to 1983 he served as a deputy sheriff with the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office. He then spent two years working as an officer with the Oakwood Forensic Center. From 1985 to 2001, he served as an officer with the New Bremen Police Department. Since 2001, he served as a sergeant.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 22 May 2008 )
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