Baldwin used to work at Lucasville prison

On Tuesday afternoon, the Ironton Police Department swore in a new officer, Austin Baldwin.

He graduated from Portsmouth West in 2018. He then enlisted in the Ohio National Guard and is a 12-B combat engineer specialist. He also started taking masonry classes at the Scioto County Career Technical Center in 2018 and earlier this year, he enrolled there again to become a police officer.

He also spent a few years as a correction officer at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville starting in 2019.

He said the job gave him the skills to deal with people, how to talk people and taught him to remain calm under pressure, which he said are skills that every officer needs.

He said the masonry certification was a backup plan, as he always wanted to become a police officer.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I always looked up to them,” he said. “It was always something I wanted to do.”

He said as an Ironton Police officer he will help maintain peace and help with public safety.

For Ironton Mayor Sam Cramblit, Baldwin is the 13th police officer he has sworn in since March of 2020.

“At this point, I have memorized the swearing in script,” he said, with a laugh.

The police force has had several officers retire in the past three years, including Sgt. Jamie Pruitt, Capt. Chris Bowman, Sgt. Anthony Forest, Capt. Joe Ross, and Chief Pam Wagner.

“We are lucky with the guys we have brought on,” Cramblit said. “Some have worked on and some have moved on to other circumstances. I’ve hired 13, so that puts us up to 16 officers including Chief Dan Johnson.”

He said he is really happy with the IPD.

“The one thing about this crew is that they are very proactive and very good about keeping the crime presence down,” he said. “Having a young crew with veteran leadership to shape them has been very beneficial. I think it is only going to get better as we transition through the years.”