“He has earned this appointment with his hard work ethic and his knowledge and love of the Enon community,” Howard said. “Lt. Wise has brought new energy, new ideas, new relationships and some much-needed humor to the village of Enon.”
Wise has “come full circle,” Howard said, since Wise started his career at the village of Enon in 1994, and 31 years later, he’s back.
“Growing up in this area, I know what the community wants, what the community needs, and by being the chief, I can push the department towards that direction,” Wise said.
Wise, who has lived in the area his “entire life,” is a 1991 graduate of Greenon High School. He earned a two-year degree from Clark State College in criminal justice and attended the police academy.
He started with the Enon Police Department in 1994 as an officer and stayed until 1999 when he transferred to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy. He stayed with the sheriff’s office until April of last year when he retired and came back to Enon in February as a lieutenant.
“They tell me I didn’t retire. They tell me I just took a seven-month vacation,” he said.
One of the biggest needs Wise sees in the community is getting back reconnected with them. He said when he started there, it was not uncommon for people to walk up to law enforcement while at a gas station.
“They’ve kind of got away from that. I want to get the department back to that way where people feel more comfortable approaching an officer and asking them a question,” he said.
“The people know me. I know the town. I’ve went to school with most of the people or with their grandparents or parents. It’s nice to get to that where you can work together and work together with the sheriff’s office to make it more cohesive.”
Wise is replacing former chief Michael Holler, who had been the chief of police since October 2019. He was using leave time until his resignation took effect July 31. Wise was in charge of the department during that time as well.
The process to select a new police chief began in May with a formal announcement that was shared through multiple channels to “attract a diverse and qualified applicant pool,” the village said.
In June, the Public Safety Committee, consisting of Council President Rick Hanna, members Christian Davoli and Brenda Sweet, received and reviewed five applications. They then chose three applicants for interviews in July, which included Wise; John Greene, a sergeant with Upper Arlington Police Department; and Robert Schons, director of campus safety at Hocking College.
Of those three, two candidates were recommended to Howard, who reviewed the applications, letters of recommendation and results of the committees assessment. After considering everything, Howard decided Wise should be appointed the village’s next police chief.
“We feel that this candidate can effectively restore relationships with our citizens, our law enforcement brothers and sisters, and our fellow first responders at Enon-Mad River Fire and EMS,” Hanna said.
Howard added he had calls of support from previous employees and past supervisors, and one conversation stuck out to him.
“One of his former supervisors, we were talking about a lack of supervisory experience on paper, but he said just because Lt. Wise didn’t wear the stripes doesn’t mean he was not a leader in Clark County,” he said.
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