OREGON, Ohio — Oregon's newly appointed police chief, Sgt. Brandon Begin, will begin his new role on Jan. 3, 2021.
Begin, 37, will succeed Chief Mike Navarre who was recently elected to be the next Lucas County Sheriff.
Begin grew up in Toledo and graduated from Whitmer High School in 2001. He was inspired to enter the law enforcement profession after one of his family members became a Lucas County Deputy Sheriff.
Begin went through the police academy at Owens Community College and worked at a couple of different police agencies before joining the Oregon Police Division in 2008.
He has been on road patrol since and was promoted to a sergeant position in 2017.
Mentoring officers has been his one of his primary jobs over the last few years.
"I've really tried to take a leadership role at the agency since I started my career. I'm currently the field training officer supervisor, so all of the new recruits who come in, I'm currently in charge of their training," he said.
He believes his prior leadership roles has prepared him to lead the division.
As soon as he's chief, he wants to expand on community engagement, letting members of the community know who his officers are to further improve public trust and perception.
"I want to make sure we're sending our officers to the right trainings. Doing internal trainings in the right areas and developing them to be well-rounded officers."
As for recruitment, he says it has been a challenge. Some officers are retiring on schedule, meanwhile the division hasn't had as many recruits as in the past. He hopes to find creative ways to keep a diverse work force.
He says transparency is also very important. Technology such as body-worn cameras have helped keep officers in line.
He also believes agencies shouldn't be making up their own policing standards for use-of-force, bias training or police pursuits. Begin says Chief Navarre works with the Ohio Collaborative, which is a twelve-person panel in Ohio that establishes statewide standards for law enforcement agencies.
"We should never be complacent or comfortable. We should always try to grow and improve what we're doing. If something is not working, we need to be creative and find a new way to do it."
Begin plans to raise his family and retire in Oregon.
He's currently in his last semester at Franklin University for his Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice Administration. He also hopes to get a Masters Degree of the same name.