Gary Salmon, president of the Oxford Twp. board of trustees, called Goins “proactive” in his job.
“(Police) are here to serve and protect, but he was active and engaged in the community. He enjoyed stopping and chatting with residents as drove around,” Salmon said. “I never heard a bad work about him. He was very pro-community and would visit with all the people.”
The department, with four full-time and seven part-time constables, was hit hard by the loss of their chief, but Salmon said he was confident they would pull together to ensure the township is protected.
“It’s harder and harder to find people who want to be police officers but we have very capable constables. He’s been here a long time and they are stepping up. The township will be covered. All the constables are here and all shifts will be working,” Salmon said.
Oxford Police Chief John Jones said he met with members of the township police department on Thursday and offered the support of his department.
“We’ve worked closely over the years. He was somebody I could count on and trust,” Jones said. “We offered our assistance in any way.”
Salmon said news of the chief’s death was a shock and said he expects to have a meeting of the trustees early in the coming week to figure out next steps and he said he plans to consult with the constables as they do so.
“Those guys know what needs to be done,” he said. “It’s a loss for us but we’ve got the guys to step up and decide what needs to be done.”
Salmon said Chief Goins was named to that post 14 or 15 years ago when the other two trustees were Jim McDonough and George Simonds. He said Goins was in his second stint with the department, having been a constable in the township early in his career, which also included time spent with the Miami University department, Ross Twp. and the Butler County Sheriff’s Department.
“He had a good relationship with the city and Miami University, all the departments in Butler County,” he said. “He was well-liked by all law enforcement in the county.”
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