Without bombast or hyperbole, Oliver speaks with the authority of a someone who has served as a police chief in three cities and one metropolitan park system. Whatever listeners expect him to say, he is likely to surprise.
Law enforcement professionals consult him, too. When we caught up to him for Three Questions, Oliver was preparing for a trip to Florida for a workshop on police hiring.
Oliver has long argued that whatever problems separate police and communities, they are solvable with hard work and intelligence. The following conversation is edited for space.
Q: Police shootings aren't new. Maybe what's new is sustained media attention to these stories. But law enforcement professionals have always faced these questions, correct?
Oliver: "Yes, these kinds of issues have been around. Absolutely. I mean, law enforcement has constantly dealt with issues of trying to diversify their agencies, focusing on diversity, issues of use-of-force, issues of whether their (policies) are being followed or not. These have been key issues for law enforcement for quite some time. …
“If somebody has a weapon, and they’re confronting a police officer or other people, (the officer) may draw his weapon and then give some command, telling them to drop the weapon, put the weapon down, cease and desist the activity. …
“Many law enforcement agencies have a use-of-force continuum, where you go from lower-impact weapons to higher-impact weapons. But when it comes to firing your firearm, it’s in defense of your life or the life of someone else.”
Q: What pulled you to a career in police work?
Oliver: "I am a blue blood in the truest sense. My dad was a Cleveland police officer. As I was a growing up, that was all I knew him to do. He enjoyed the policing profession. He absolutely had a passion for what he did. He had a lot of friends who were police officers who were by our home on many occasions. I got my interest in law enforcement from him.
“I went to the University of Cincinnati. I was a criminal justice major, and right out of (UC) I was recruited by the Ohio State Highway Patrol and and started my law enforcement career as an Ohio state trooper.
“I went from being a state trooper to being the ranger chief at Cleveland Metro Parks … to being chief of Cleveland and from chief of Cleveland to chief of Grandview Heights in the Columbus suburbs … to chief of Fairborn. I left Fairborn and joined the faculty here at Cedarville University.”
Q: Do you know when one of your students will make a good police officer? How can you tell?
Oliver: "That's a great question … One of my areas of expertise is in law enforcement hiring. I'm a consultant who teachers law enforcement agencies how to hire effectively. In fact, that's where I'm headed tomorrow, to Orlando, to speak with about 25 law enforcement administrators, to put on a two-day workshop on hiring. …
“The most important one (qualification) is high moral character or integrity. The single most important trait for a police officer. Integrity is what the officer sells to members of the public.
“No. 2 is a strong service orientation. Service is what you sell. Eighty percent or more of the calls for service to all law enforcement agencies — whether it’s NYPD or a small suburban PD — those are calls to help or serve people. It’s a service-oriented job …
“The law enforcement officer has to meet and deal with people all day long, often times going into a negative situation and leaving people with something positive. The acid test is that very contact: Did you leave them better than you found them?”
Know someone who can handle Three Questions? We're looking for behind-the-scenes-but-still fascinating Miami Valley residents with something to say. Send your suggestions to tom.gnau@coxinc.
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