After nearly 30 years — his entire career — at the Sylvania Police Division, Chief Rick Schnoor is handing off the reins of the department and taking his retirement.

“I feel like we’re in a really good place right now to make a transition,” he said. “We’re fortunately fully-staffed as of right now.”

Chief Schnoor, 50, started at the department as a patrol officer in 1994, a few months after graduating from the University of Toledo with a degree in criminal justice. Since then, he was promoted to sergeant in 2000 and later detective sergeant, captain in 2010, and then chief in 2019.

He could have retired instead of becoming chief, Chief Schnoor said, but he felt that his policing career was not yet at its end. Now, though, he has accomplished everything he set out to do as chief, and the timing is right for the department to carry on without him. His last day is scheduled to be Sept. 6.

“I’ll definitely miss working with my staff,” he said. “It’ll be different. It’ll be weird.”

Chief Schnoor grew up in Pemberville and graduated from Eastwood High School. He’s always wanted to have a career in public service and first took an interest in law enforcement while he was a middle school student. During a career shadowing assignment while in high school, he rode along with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and that sealed the deal.

His first police job was on Put-in-Bay, which is where he worked during the summer breaks while attending UT. He was there when he heard he had gotten a patrol job in Sylvania.

“I had only been in Sylvania one time to take the test,” Chief Schnoor said.

Back then, competition for law enforcement jobs was tougher than today, he said, and he was competing against everyone he graduated with for a relatively small pool of jobs in the northwest Ohio area. He applied to Oregon, Rossford, Sylvania, Maumee, everywhere he could to land a position.

Many of his fellow students, Chief Schnoor said, had to take positions in jails, at least to start.

“This always felt like a great place to work,” he said about the city. “The community’s always been super supportive of the police.... I never really thought about leaving.”

One of the projects he’s most proud of accomplishing as chief is identifying and focusing on mental health issues within the community. Every officer is certified in crisis intervention training, which is administered by the Lucas County’s Mental Health & Recovery Services Board.

“[Mental health issues] is one of our most common calls for service these days,” Chief Schnoor said.

He’s proud that Sylvania officers are equipped with the training to keep everyone safe while responding to those types of calls. Sometimes, Chief Schnoor said, even if someone has committed a crime, it’s more appropriate for them to go into an ambulance than be taken into custody.

He pointed out that the city’s crime rate is well below the state’s average, and if applicants to the department envision making a lot of arrests, then this might not be the right place for them. At the same time, he acknowledged always needing to be prepared for the unexpected, such as an active shooter situation.

“I got into this job because I just always wanted to help people,” Chief Schnoor said. “That’s what I’ve always been drawn to.”

Capt. Danilynn Miller also started working for the department in 1994, just months before Chief Schnoor did, and they’ve worked together nearly their entire careers.

“We’ve come up through the department, through the ranks together,” she said. “It’s been great.”

Like the chief, Captain Miller also has been involved in many areas of the department, and she said it’s going to be odd not seeing him in the department anymore.

“After working with someone for 28 1/2 years, it’s going to be different not having him around,” she said. “He’s had a very positive influence on the department the past three years he’s been chief.”

Sylvania Public Service Director Kevin Aller said it’s good to see people move on into the next chapter of their lives but that it’s also hard because often that means losing good employees, such as Chief Schnoor.

“He’s done a good job for us,” Mr. Aller said about the chief.

At the same time, retirements also allow for fresh leadership, which Mr. Aller believes can be a great benefit.

“That new set of eyes can see things differently,” he said.

Mr. Aller is excited for the future of the department and appreciative of the time and work that Chief Schnoor put into his role as chief.

“He was chief through some pretty tumultuous times,” Mr. Aller said, citing the 2020 civil protests as well as the pandemic. “He led the department through that.”

For his retirement, Chief Schnoor plans to continue working for his wife’s dental practice, which for many years he has been doing alongside his law enforcement job. He lives with his family in Blissfield, Mich., where his younger son still goes to school and where Chief Schnoor coaches basketball.

Plans for his replacement have not been made official yet, but the chief said he believes he is leaving the department and the city in good hands.

“I’ve always seen my job as trying to facilitate so everyone else can do their jobs well,” Chief Schnoor said. “It’s not about me.”

First Published August 31, 2022, 4:18 p.m.