Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown swears in four new officers to join the Youngstown Police Department during a ceremony Thursday in city council chambers. The new officers are, from left, Keilan Beachum, Chad Redfern, Deanna Jordan and Laura Fullmer. Photo by Sean Barron

YOUNGSTOWN — If additional bridges can be built to better connect law enforcement personnel with the communities they serve, Chad Redfern would like to be one of the construction workers.

“I’m trying to get a diverse background in law enforcement,” Redfern, of Beaver, Pa., said. He would also “like to be more visible” in the community.

Redfern, 28, is a step closer toward that goal because he is one of four officers who were added to the Youngstown Police Department during a swearing-in ceremony Thursday afternoon in city council chambers.

The others are Deanna Jordan; Keilan Beachum, who is part of the Youngstown State University Police Academy; and Laura Fullmer, who has an extensive background in policing and enforcing the city’s housing codes.

Swearing in the officers was Mayor Jamael Tito Brown before a packed room of family members, friends and supporters that included about a dozen members of YSU’s police academy.

Redfern received his training at Kent State University at Trumbull’s academy before becoming a police dog handler and detective with the Sebring Police Department. Afterward, he left the profession for about a year to work for and travel with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in emergency medical services, he said.

In addition, he served part-time with the Goshen Township Police Department before joining the ranks of the YPD.

Also happy to be on board was Fullmer, whose husband, detective Sgt. Jerry Fullmer, works in the homicide division.

“Being a police officer is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Laura Fullmer said after the ceremony.

After undergoing training in 2001 at the former MTC Training Center in Niles, she began working for Youngstown in 2005. Her time with the city includes having been in housing code enforcement since 2007.

Her new long-term goals are to move through the ranks at the department and possibly work for a special unit. Specifically, she said she hopes to rise to detective, but will begin by patrolling the streets.

“Since I was young, I wanted to be a detective,” she said.

Brown told the new officers plenty of people are willing to mentor and nurture them, especially in difficult times. The four would do well to learn the “tools” and means that more experienced officers have used to achieve success, the mayor added.

“You’re first in line when everything is going on, and you get the call,” Brown said.

Police Chief Carl Davis said his department has faced recent challenges in hiring and retention of officers.

Davis also noted he intends to do all he can to ensure the new hires will be properly trained, equipped and supervised as they begin their careers. In addition, Redfern, Fullmer, Beachum and Jordan will work in an environment “where you will matter,” he said.

Fullmer and her husband have more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, so the change in her work environment likely will not mean a sizable change for the couple, Jerry Fullmer said.

“I have every confidence in her,” Fullmer said.

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