BY TERESA ACKERMAN
Gazette Newspapers
MADISON TOWNSHIP – Sunday, June 21, will be Troy Hager’s last day as police chief for Madison Township.
June 21, 1986, is also the day, 40 years ago, when Hager graduated from the Kent State Police Academy and was hired by the Village of Boston Heights Police Department.
Hager was born in Summit County and raised in Stow.
He did not come from a law enforcement family, though his dad was going to become one.
“My father was an auxiliary police officer for Cuyahoga Falls and was going to become a police officer,” Hager said. “However, he could not take the job because he was making too much money in overtime at the Ford factory. Back then officers were salary, not hourly.”
When asked what made him decide to become a police officer Hager responded “Think back to the early 1970s. I loved the television show, ‘Adam 12.’ I watched it all the time. The episodes were supposed to have been from real police incidents in L.A.”
Hager shared that he had so many role models when he was growing up.
“I had a younger uncle who was more like a brother to me. We hung out so much together,” said Hager. “Honestly, my father was my role model. We hunted, fished and were into shooting sports together. He was a self-taught gunsmith and collector.”
After high school, Hager enlisted in the U.S. Air Force for four years.
“I was a security police officer. I was stationed in Texas, South Dakota and Saudi Arabia,” said Hager. “I went to the USAF Police Academy in 1982. Then I got out and went to the Kent State Police Academy in January of 1986. Back then you had to be sponsored to get into the police academy. I was put on as a special deputy for Portage County. I then graduated and was hired June 21, 1986, with the Village of Boston Heights Police Department. Later that year I was hired by the Painesville Police Department.”
Hager has achieved numerous accomplishments as a police officer over the past four decades:
FTO (Field Training Officer) in Painesville; firearms instructor for the Painesville Police Department in 1991; detective bureau for four years in 1996, promoted to sergeant and stayed in the bureau for another year; promoted to lieutenant; instructor for the Lakeland Community College Police Academy for just over 20 years, with the last three years as instructor of record for the range program; one of four officers selected to be from an outside agency to serve on the Lake County Sheriff’s SWAT unit and served on the team for 10 years as an entry officer, firearms instructor and then the team sniper for eight years; 2008 was only the second officer at Painesville to ever be sent to the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va. – trained with senior officers from around the world on how to be more effective leaders; 2010 – promoted to chief of police for the Painesville Police Department and retired in 2014 with 28 years there; worked part-time for the Eastlake Police Department in the court and with school resource officers; 2016 – hired as police chief for the Perry Village Police Department until 2023; 2023 hired as police chief for the Madison Township Police Department.
As far as memorable experiences in law enforcement, Hager shared two.
“I was working afternoons patrolling in a large Section 8 apartment complex. I stopped my patrol car to talk to some children that were outside playing. A small, young boy came over to me and hesitantly reached out and touched my arm, which was hanging out of my driver’s side window, with his finger. He turned around and yelled to his friends ‘He is real! He is real!’ I would say that children need more than just seeing a patrol car X-amount of times a shift. That they need to interact with the police officers. Since then, I always made a point to get out of my cruiser as much as possible and interact with kids,” said Hager. “My worst experience was holding a man who had been shot and having him die in my arms. I had never experienced death that close.”
Hager said that he would have encouraged his own kids to become police officers only if they wanted it to be their career.
“Being a police officer cannot just be a job. It is almost like people who want to be a teacher or a nurse. You can tell who is there just because it is a job,” said Hager.
Hager has seen many changes seen he started his career in law enforcement.
“Public distrust hurts the most. We (law enforcement) have a few bad apples. Like any profession. But I can honestly say Lake County has been so very positive and supportive of their police officers,” said Hager.
Hager experienced this support in 1996 when his first wife died.
“In 1996 after a long battle with brain tumors, my first wife died. It was me and our two children. I was young. The Painesville Police Department and the Painesville Fire Department were there for me. They escorted my wife to her final resting place. There were so many other agencies that supported this young brother, and I will never forget that,” said Hager. “My family helped me so much. I found Laua and we fell in love and had three more children. Without Laura’s support and love I could not have made it this far. She made me breathe again.”
Hager plans to travel with his wife, Laura, when he retires.
“My wife and I want to travel to Germany to see our son who is serving there in the Air Force as a jet engine mechanic. We want to drive the Dempster Highway through the Northwest Territory and reach the Arctic Ocean. And spend more time with the grandkids,” said Hager.
And finally, Hager shared this advice for someone who is interested in becoming a police officer.
“Make this a career. Take any training you can get. Be a role model. Treat people, as long as you can, like you would want your mom or sister to be treated by an officer and you will go far,” said Hager.
Note: Hager was one of this reporter’s instructor’s when she was in the police academy in 1994 and worked with and for him while she was an officer with the Madison Township Police Department. She retired on Monday, June 1.
