From Day One, VanArsdale has been charged with cutting his share of the $2.6 million the police and fire departments will lose as a result of state funding drops.
It’s a shortfall he discussed with Maj. Mark Hoffman, the other applicant to succeed Chief Greg Schwarber. But VanArsdale said it wasn’t a deterrent for the job ahead.
“We knew that whoever became chief was going to be
dismantling the department,” he said.
Yet VanArsdale had to stop and consider before answering why he wanted the job. He said it’s simply the pinnacle of his career — he’s always strived to be at the top.
“But I miss the street. I really do miss the street,” he reflected, his feet propped up on what will soon be his vacant desk in the detectives’ section. “I didn’t become a policeman to sit behind a desk.”
Now he’ll find himself sitting behind one stained with 40 years of coffee drips while he works to keep as many as possible of his 80-strong force on the streets he misses.
“I just have to address (the budget) with the least impact to the department and the community,” he said.
Budget cuts
It’s a tough job, but the new Police Chief David VanArsdale knew somebody has to do it.
Taking Middletown’s top police position came more from a desire to achieve than for VanArsdale to find himself in the spotlight.
“This really goes against the position, but I am not a very talkative person. I don’t like to be the center of attention,” VanArsdale said.
It’s an attitude that he says “really irritates the TV girls” when being interviewed but is hardly a problem in the office. His desk is adjacent to Lt. Rodney Muterspaw and he can’t pass up the chance to fire off a few jokes that the two “dress alike” as both men were sporting blue dress shirts Friday.
“I’m really laid back,” VanArsdale said.
From a young age
Fitting into the role of chief for VanArsdale is a matter of progression along the career path he’s been following since childhood.
A Middletown native, VanArsdale said he spent his life attending various police functions and ceremonies as he followed the career of his father, Ron VanArsdale. When he became a cadet at the age of 18 in 1981, father and son worked for the same police department until Ron VanArsdale, a deputy chief, retired in 1989.
“As I got older, I felt that this was a pretty good job,” Chief VanArsdale said. “This has been my home and I’ve always wanted to be in Middletown.”
He still lives in Middletown with his 17-year-old son, Nick, who will be a senior at Fenwick High School this fall. His son Kevin, 20, is a student at Wright State University.
Challenge accepted
As far as his career, VanArsdale is reserved about the challenges he’s faced as an officer, and said none “really stand out.”
Included with his resume was the notation about receiving the police department’s Meritorious Service Award in 1999 for keeping a cool head during a fight at the Starlight Lounge that turned into a riot.
“There are so many different things that happen (as an officer) that you don’t realize until later that, wow, that was a dangerous situation,” he said.
He’s most proud of his time on the street as a sergeant when he was able to “clean up the area” by creating task forces of patrol and undercover officers. He’s grateful to the people who stop him at the grocery store because they remember a time he helped them.
“I always try to have a good relationship with people in the community,” he said. “I deal with thousands of people but they deal with very few officers.”
It’s a relationship VanArsdale said he’ll remember as he tries to juggle the possibility of $1 million in cuts to his department. The lost funding almost certainly will impact personnel.
“The reality of it is we have cut everything else out of our budget so most of our budget now is just personnel,” VanArsdale said. “To make any cuts now you have to cut people.”
There are a few vacancies that may save jobs through attrition. Former Chief Greg Schwarber never filled the positions left by Mike Davis and Sandy Efker earlier this year.
So far, there also has been no moves to fill the patrol position that will be open after the progression of promotions that will begin next week as officers are bumped to fill VanArsdale’s vacant Deputy Chief spot.
“Our No. 1 priority will be to have officers on the street,” he said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.
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