However, Fruchey was looking for a chance to be the police chief of a larger, growing community. That’s why he called it “a dream come true” when he was sworn in to Fairfield Twp., which has a population of more than 17,000.
“This is a community that pretty much knows what it wants and where it wants to go. There’s good growth, quality housing being built. I think they’ve done a good job with the roads, trying to keep up with the amount of subdivision growth. First impressions are all very positive,” the new chief said.
It helped that he and outgoing Chief Richard St. John have known each other for several years. In the early 2000s, Fruchey was the Amber alert coordinator for Southwest Ohio, and St. John was his Butler County contact. The two discovered they had similar leadership styles, Fruchey said.
Township trustees said weren’t looking for someone who would shake up the police force but who would maintain what St. John had overseen. St. John is retiring, having been the chief in the township for 13 years. He has been working in tandem with Fruchey this past week, and Fruchey will take the reins Tuesday when St. John departs. Fruchey will be paid $39 an hour.
“We’ve been very, very happy with Richard St. John. We had some big boots to fill, and we had quite a few applicants who were very high quality and would be a good chief anywhere,” Trustee Terry Scharnhorst said. “We liked (Fruchey’s) experience, and ability and his personality. People like him.”
Fruchey got into law enforcement after his initial attempt to get into the railroad in the Cleveland area didn’t work out. His mother, a guidance counselor, told him “College sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?” So Fruchey pursued what became his calling — law enforcement. His early work included a stint with the Cleveland State University police.
Even after Fruchey got to live his dream of working on the railroad in 2007, “Law enforcement is what I do. That’s what I educated myself for, it’s what I trained for .. when this opportunity came up, there was just no question I wanted to go for this,” he said.
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