A conversation in the community with Washington Court House Police Department officer Adam Phillips.
Hometown: Washington Court House
Employment: Phillips was hired July 7, 2016 at the WPD where he did ride-alongs with officers, helped out around the office and “did a lot of cleaning” before he left in August for police officer training. He completed training and has been working as an officer at the WPD now for about two months. Prior to coming to work at the WPD he worked as a volunteer firefighter in Bloomingburg.
Where did you go to school? Washington Court House City Schools. After I left there, I went to Southern State Community College for about two years. I left there to do online schooling so I could do my schooling for the fire department and I graduated from the University of Phoenix with an associate’s in criminal justice. I graduated January 6 from the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy.
So now you are doing patrol on your own? What do you think?
Yes. It’s a blast. I love it.
What do you like about it?
Just helping to make the community better. I think that’s our biggest, and everybody’s, goal when they get into this job. If you can make somebody’s life better everyday, it makes me smile.
When did you know you wanted to stay in this community as a police officer?
I’ve always looked up to first responders and that’s one of the reasons I got into doing the firefighting. Then I figured a cop would be even better than being a firefighter so I joined the police department. So probably as a kid. I’ve always looked up to them. My babysitter when I was younger was a firefighter so I always just thought that it was awesome when they’d go running out the door. I have a family member who used to be the sheriff of Fayette County, Bill Crooks (1991-1997).
Two months—so you’re really fresh. What, if anything, has surprised you?
I’ve always known that we’ve had a drug problem here in town but there for awhile it seemed like we had overdoses, it seemed like two or three or four of them a shift. That was just the biggest surprise to me, was how bad it actually was here in town.
What do you see your role as police as being in the community?
Just helping to enforce the traffic and criminal laws here in the state of Ohio and the City of Washington Court House. Making the community a better place for my future kids to grow up and live, and my family to grow up and live, and hopefully getting the criminals off the streets.
What do you do when you’re not working?
I love to spend time with my family. My family is everything. Everybody in my family, I love to do everything with whenever I can. I like to hunt and fish and play Xbox.
This article is part of an ongoing Record-Herald series, Conversations in Communities, that will focus on bringing local and diverse voices to the front pages. This is the third of several interviews with the newest members of the Washington Police Department. Follow the Record-Herald online at www.recordherald.com and on Twitter @recordherald to see more conversations in the community.
