MANSFIELD, Ohio – The Mansfield Police Department grew to 82 officers after the addition of Jesse Kilgore on Monday morning in the Hutchison Classroom at the Mansfield Municipal Building.
Kilgore, 38, was sworn in at 11 a.m. and was assigned to the Special Operation Bureau Professional Standards Section, serving as a probationary police officer for twelve months.
According to Kilgore, he’s always wanted to be an officer.
“The City of Mansfield is my home town, and I wanted nothing more than to come back to the City of Mansfield and serve the people,” he said.
Before pursuing a career in policing, Kilgore spent 12 years in the Air Force and has been “all over the place.”
Once out of the military, he said it was time for a career change. He added that he’d eventually like to work his way up to detective.
Ken Coontz, MPD’s chief of police, said Kilgore took initiative to prepare for the position, which is part of why the department hired Kilgore.
“When he was first on our civil service entrance exam list, he was not certified as a police officer and was a little bit lower on the list,” Coontz said.
As the department sifted through its list of candidates, Kilgore took the time to send himself to a police academy, according to Koontz.
“Honestly, his preparation for that position is what got him here,” said Coontz, who added that Kilgore can be placed directly into field training program because of the extra preparation.
Kilgore will have at least three and a half months of field training, spending his first month with a veteran officer who’s qualified to train new staff.
From there, Koontz said, there are two more stages of training with different supervisors – each a month long – ending with a refrain to the first stage.
“Once he completes Stage 3, he’ll go back to Stage 1 and spend two weeks on what we call a check-out ride,” Koontz said. “Anywhere along that way if we see him struggling or not as far along as we’d want him to be, we can extend those phases out.”
Jesse Kilgore is the younger brother of MPD Sgt. Nelson Kilgore, who said working with his brother will be a great experience he never thought he’d have.
Sgt. Kilgore has been with the Mansfield department for 10 years.
“It’s always fun to have your little brother with you doing the same thing,” he said.
While he applied to other departments while searching for a job, Jesse Kilgore said Mansfield was “near and dear” to his heart.
“I feel honored and blessed and privileged to be a police officer and serve Mansfield, to come back to my home town,” he said. “And to be in the same department as my brother – that’s got the awesome factor all the way up to 10.”
MPD is budgeted for 85 officers, according to Koontz, and is looking at other candidates.
“I don’t see anyone who is certified on that list, so even if we do hire somebody, it won’t be until February,” he said, adding that MPD is hoping to have another civil service test between now and February.
