On Tuesday, Officer Keith Hurst, 25, was sworn in as the newest member of the Urbana Police Division by Judge Gil S. Weithman in front of family, Urbana police officers and city administration.
Hurst is a 2009 graduate of Mechanicsburg High School, attended Kent State University and completed a four-year tour of duty in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army as a combat medic from 2012 to 2016. Hurst was a corrections officer at the Tri-County Jail when hired by the city of Urbana.
On Aug. 20, Hurst begins his 20 weeks of basic police training at the Ohio State Patrol Academy. Upon graduating from the police academy in January 2019, he will begin a 12-week field training program with the Urbana Police Division before he receives a permanent solo assignment.
Hurst’s hiring fills a vacancy in the division brought about by the recent retirement of 23-year veteran Officer Mike Hughes. The police division remains two short of the budgeted staffing level and is beginning a new round of recruitment and testing for the next officers to fill those open vacancies.
