MOUNT VERNON — Three new officers were sworn into the Mount Vernon Police Department on Friday afternoon.
James Coffey, Paige Wilt and Austin Johnston stood in front of a packed training room, filled with Mount Vernon and Knox County’s biggest names, as mayor Richard Mavis swore them in. After being awarded their first badges by police chief Roger Monroe, the room burst with applause for the city’s newest officers.
“This is one of the better days in the department, when we get to bring new officers into the fold, protecting the citizens and moving on to their new careers and new journeys,” Monroe said to those present.
It had been three years since the last time new officers were sworn into the department, according to captain Scott McKnight. Both he and Monroe expressed their excitement for the occasion.
“This is always exciting, especially when you’ve been doing it as long as we have, bringing the new blood in,” Monroe said. “These three went through a pretty grueling process of coming here for interview and interview, and physicals and evaluations and everything else. They’ve stood the test of time and now they’re going to move on to be police officers for the Mount Vernon Police Department.”
Coffey, Wilt and Johnston will be three of the department’s 31 officers, as McKnight noted that a new generation would soon be making their way into the local police force.
“It’s a different generation coming in,” McKnight said. “They’re learning from us, we’re learning from them.”
While Coffey and Wilt will begin as officers on Sunday, Johnston still has to go through the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy (which he will begin on June 25) before he can gain certification and start in Mount Vernon.
Coffey, 31, is a Mount Vernon native and a 2006 graduate of Mount Vernon High School. He went into the military after high school, joining the Air Force and eventually being deployed to Iraq, Japan and Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was in the Air Force for nine years.
Coffey lives in Centerburg with his wife and said that becoming a police officer has been a dream of his.
“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do, to be a positive impact on the community and be a role model for my family,” Coffey said. “It feels good to be back home.”
Wilt, 21, is also a Mount Vernon native and a recent graduate of Ohio State University. She received a bachelor’s degree in December after double-majoring in criminology & criminal justice and sociology, while also gaining a minor in substance misuse and addiction.
“This was my dream place to end up,” Wilt noted. “I grew up here.”
Wilt interned at the Mount Vernon Police Department during her time in college, participating in ride-alongs, filing paperwork and “doing pretty much anything I was asked to while shadowing the officers.”
While Wilt acknowledged that she might be one of the younger officers in the department to start, she said that she will use the opportunity to prove herself.
“I think some people thought that I don’t have the experience,” Wilt said. “I think being young and starting my career, it’s very exciting for me, especially ending up where my dream was to end up. I think I was just shocked at such a young age to be give a full-time opportunity at my dream job, so I’m very excited.”
Johnston, 24, is a Hilliard native and a recent graduate of Wilmington College, where he studied criminal justice. He went to Hilliard Bradley High School, which competes in the Ohio Cardinal Conference alongside Mount Vernon, and he fondly remembers traveling to Mount Vernon for away contests.
“Coming up here and just seeing the family feel of Mount Vernon that they’ve always had, I’m definitely excited to be a part of it,” Johnston said.
For Johnston, the desire to become a police officer was natural.
“My mother drives a school bus and my dad’s a firefighter,” he said. “So growing up around public servants, I knew I needed to do something where I can help people and serve a community.”
