Officers’ Actions After Shooting Inspired Oberlin To Be A Cop
May 19, 2020 at 11:40 p.m.
Officers’ Actions After Shooting Inspired Oberlin To Be A Cop
By Amanda [email protected]
Oberlin started with WPD in 1997. He’s served as a patrol officer, corporal and is currently the third-shift sergeant and shift commander of the patrol division. He was the WPD Citizen Academy coordinator for 18 years, from 2000-2018. He’s also been a school resource officer at Warsaw Community Schools for the past six years.
When Oberlin started, he was 35 years old. An age much older than when officers usually start their careers, he said. He cites his age as his reason for retirement.
“It’s just a good time to go,” he said. “I’m a little bit older than most guys and it’s getting harder to keep up the physical parts of the job.”
What triggered Oberlin to get into law enforcement was actually a crime that happened in Kosciusko County – and how the local law enforcement responded, he said.
“First of all, I believe that you get into the job because you want to. There’s something about you that you want to do it. As a little kid I had always wanted to, but then when we had the incident where the man killed his two kids and a deputy, that’s what really kicked me into gear,” he said.
The incident Oberlin is referring to is when Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy Phillip Hochstetler was shot and killed in 1994 while interviewing a suspect about a recent burglary. The suspect agreed to surrender his weapons to Hochstetler, but at the last moment turned one of the weapons on the officer. Hochstetler was shot in the throat and head, and then the suspect murdered his two small children before fleeing the home. Two days later, the suspect was recognized as he drove past the crime scene. Officers chased him into downtown Warsaw, and when the suspect fired upon the officers, they returned fire. The suspect was shot and killed by Warsaw police.
“I was really impressed with local law enforcement and how they handled everything and how the city came together on it,” Oberlin said. “And I said this is my time.”
Looking back on his 23-year career,?Oberlin is most proud of his work with the WPD Citizen Academy. It is a program that allows citizens to attend classes taught by police and learn about the job police do.
“The Citizen’s Academy started probably about the time that I came on the department. It was actually a white paper project through the Kosciusko Leadership Academy and a couple of our guys had done that and they started to implement it,” Oberlin said. “About two years into my career, I said I’d like to do that, and then in my third year I took it over full time from 2000 to 2018. Eighteen of my years here was doing that and building a positive image of the department with the community and those people. That probably means as much to me as anything and that’s probably where I felt like I had the biggest impact and probably what I’m most proud of.”
Speaking about crime, Oberlin mostly praised the Warsaw community for their respect of law enforcement.
“We’ve been fortunate in this community to have people that are receptive to law enforcement and respectful,” he said. He recalled when his family moved to the area when he was 6 years old and how people could “leave the doors unlocked.”
While he admits that has changed, he still believes that most people are good.
He also thinks technology can be a double-edged sword when it comes to helping and hurting the work of law enforcement. It is a help in training and protecting the safety of officers, for example body cameras and in-car computers. When Oberlin first started on the road, he would have to type his reports on typewriters, he said. “That doesn’t sound like that long ago, but it seems like light years.”
But there are times where technology can make policework a little more complicated.
“Especially with the school and social media,” he said of his time working as the school’s SRO. “That is something that I think is making things a little more difficult only because there’s more ways for kids to communicate in and out of school, that type of thing. It doesn’t make it impossible, but it makes it trickier to deal with some things.”
Oberlin’s retirement takes effect May 30. WPD Chief Scott Whitaker thanked him for his 23 years of service to the department and to the community.
“On behalf of WPD, I would like to wish Greg the best of luck with his future endeavors. He will undoubtedly be successful in whatever it is he chooses to pursue,” Whitaker said.
Oberlin plans to spend more time with his family. He has a wife, Teresa; two adult children, Kayla and Justin; and a 2-1/2-year-old granddaughter.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, WPD cannot host a public retirement celebration. However, those wishing to do so are invited to attend a retirement open house his family is hosting from 3 to 6 p.m. June 13 at Redeemer Lutheran Church.
“To the public, I would say continue to support first responders in general but law enforcement in particular. It’s a very tough job,” Oberlin said. “I’ve been fortunate to work in a community that is very supportive and I’m very proud of what I did and I wouldn’t change anything in my career with that.”
Oberlin started with WPD in 1997. He’s served as a patrol officer, corporal and is currently the third-shift sergeant and shift commander of the patrol division. He was the WPD Citizen Academy coordinator for 18 years, from 2000-2018. He’s also been a school resource officer at Warsaw Community Schools for the past six years.
When Oberlin started, he was 35 years old. An age much older than when officers usually start their careers, he said. He cites his age as his reason for retirement.
“It’s just a good time to go,” he said. “I’m a little bit older than most guys and it’s getting harder to keep up the physical parts of the job.”
What triggered Oberlin to get into law enforcement was actually a crime that happened in Kosciusko County – and how the local law enforcement responded, he said.
“First of all, I believe that you get into the job because you want to. There’s something about you that you want to do it. As a little kid I had always wanted to, but then when we had the incident where the man killed his two kids and a deputy, that’s what really kicked me into gear,” he said.
The incident Oberlin is referring to is when Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy Phillip Hochstetler was shot and killed in 1994 while interviewing a suspect about a recent burglary. The suspect agreed to surrender his weapons to Hochstetler, but at the last moment turned one of the weapons on the officer. Hochstetler was shot in the throat and head, and then the suspect murdered his two small children before fleeing the home. Two days later, the suspect was recognized as he drove past the crime scene. Officers chased him into downtown Warsaw, and when the suspect fired upon the officers, they returned fire. The suspect was shot and killed by Warsaw police.
“I was really impressed with local law enforcement and how they handled everything and how the city came together on it,” Oberlin said. “And I said this is my time.”
Looking back on his 23-year career,?Oberlin is most proud of his work with the WPD Citizen Academy. It is a program that allows citizens to attend classes taught by police and learn about the job police do.
“The Citizen’s Academy started probably about the time that I came on the department. It was actually a white paper project through the Kosciusko Leadership Academy and a couple of our guys had done that and they started to implement it,” Oberlin said. “About two years into my career, I said I’d like to do that, and then in my third year I took it over full time from 2000 to 2018. Eighteen of my years here was doing that and building a positive image of the department with the community and those people. That probably means as much to me as anything and that’s probably where I felt like I had the biggest impact and probably what I’m most proud of.”
Speaking about crime, Oberlin mostly praised the Warsaw community for their respect of law enforcement.
“We’ve been fortunate in this community to have people that are receptive to law enforcement and respectful,” he said. He recalled when his family moved to the area when he was 6 years old and how people could “leave the doors unlocked.”
While he admits that has changed, he still believes that most people are good.
He also thinks technology can be a double-edged sword when it comes to helping and hurting the work of law enforcement. It is a help in training and protecting the safety of officers, for example body cameras and in-car computers. When Oberlin first started on the road, he would have to type his reports on typewriters, he said. “That doesn’t sound like that long ago, but it seems like light years.”
But there are times where technology can make policework a little more complicated.
“Especially with the school and social media,” he said of his time working as the school’s SRO. “That is something that I think is making things a little more difficult only because there’s more ways for kids to communicate in and out of school, that type of thing. It doesn’t make it impossible, but it makes it trickier to deal with some things.”
Oberlin’s retirement takes effect May 30. WPD Chief Scott Whitaker thanked him for his 23 years of service to the department and to the community.
“On behalf of WPD, I would like to wish Greg the best of luck with his future endeavors. He will undoubtedly be successful in whatever it is he chooses to pursue,” Whitaker said.
Oberlin plans to spend more time with his family. He has a wife, Teresa; two adult children, Kayla and Justin; and a 2-1/2-year-old granddaughter.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, WPD cannot host a public retirement celebration. However, those wishing to do so are invited to attend a retirement open house his family is hosting from 3 to 6 p.m. June 13 at Redeemer Lutheran Church.
“To the public, I would say continue to support first responders in general but law enforcement in particular. It’s a very tough job,” Oberlin said. “I’ve been fortunate to work in a community that is very supportive and I’m very proud of what I did and I wouldn’t change anything in my career with that.”
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