By Linda Collins
For the Herald
ENON – The Village of Enon welcomed a new part-time police officer during the Tuesday, Dec. 8 village council meeting, as Jason Rob Shope was sworn in by Mayor Tim Howard.
“Rob has lived in the Enon area most of his life,” Enon Police Chief Lewis Wilcox said. “He attended Hustead Elementary School, Indian Valley Middle School and Greenon High School, which he graduated from in 1994.”
Shope, who will start Dec. 15, was joined by his girlfriend, Amy Lucius, his son, Jacob, and his girlfriend, Kendra, as well as Sergeant Chad Brown of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Shope said Brown, a close friend, had supported him throughout his career in law enforcement.
“I am very excited to be able to serve the community where I was raised and give back a portion of what it has given me and my family over the years,” Shope said.
Shope, a 2012 graduate of the Clark State Community College Police Academy, began his career in law enforcement with the Tremont City Police Department in April 2013. He is currently employed as a full-time public safety officer at the Liberty Center in Liberty Township.
Wilcox said Shope expressed his aspirations of becoming an Enon police officer and for three months has been working toward reaching that goal. Wilcox said Shope will be subject to the state-required, six-month probation period and added that Shope’s starting pay rate will be $10 per hour.
Following the ceremony, Shope shared his future career plans, including becoming a full-time police officer.
“My goals are to learn as much as I can, stay safe, and one day, to retire a great cop,” he said.
Wilcox told village council members that he is hoping to build up the number of officers in the village police force in the near future. The hiring of Shope now brings the village police force to four full-time and five part-time officers.
“We will continue to do our best and provide a safe environment for the citizens in the village,” Wilcox said.
