Recent OPD recruits speak on newfound experience and serving the community

Officer Cheyenne Bower of the Ocala Police Department operates a handheld radar gun as she checks the speed of traffic on South Pine Avenue in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. Bower was recently hired as a patrol officer at the Ocala Police Department. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

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Posted December 31, 2021 | By Katrina Cabansay
Special to the Gazette

For Cheyenne Bower, becoming a police officer was a no-brainer. Watching CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with her grandmother during her childhood sparked a love for law enforcement that has carried her through to this day, and though she’s grown past investigating her own fictional crime scenes and throwing CSI-themed birthday parties, Bower said that her passion for the profession hasn’t faltered even during police training.

“Every moment was like, ‘I’m getting through this and I’m doing this,’” Bower said. “Everything interested me, even the most boring topics interested me.”

As one of the newest officers in the Ocala Police Department, Bower has spent the past four months navigating what it’s like to be an officer. While the job can be nerve-wracking at times, Bower said that her plethora of resources make her confident in her ability to handle any situation.

“As long as I can lean on my senior officers, my statute book, and all my policies and procedures, I know I can get through it,” Bower said.

Aside from keeping law and order, Bower said she considers helping the community and setting a good example for others as the most important parts of her job.

“I feel like I can be a positive role model for somebody,” Bower said. “That is the most rewarding for me is being that positive role model in somebody’s life.”

Officer Sean Price, who was sworn in with Bower, shares her sentiment of putting service to others as a priority. Price, a former college athlete, participated in multiple community service opportunities over the course of his football career, leading him to continue assisting others as a police officer following his retirement from the sport.

“I grew up knowing that giving is better than receiving, so there’s always been fulfillment there,” Price said. “When I retired from football, it just felt right. In a sense, I’m doing the same thing I was doing as an athlete, but I touch people’s lives on a more personal level now.”

Both Bower and Price’s few months of experience have already shown them the wealth of service that being an officer provides. Opportunities like Shop With A Cop and Secret Santa allowed OPD officers to bring holiday cheer to their community by shopping with children and giving drivers $100 during traffic stops. Through events like these and other interactions with citizens, Police Chief Mike Balken said that officers get front-row seats to the “greatest show on earth.”

“It’s a challenging job, and it absolutely will expose you to the worst that mankind has to offer, but you’ll also bear witness to the absolute best that it has to offer,” Balken said.

Recruiting officers like Bower and Price remains a difficulty for many departments, however. Despite a recent Police Executive Research Forum survey finding only a 5 percent decrease in the hiring rate for officers, Balken said that departments nowadays are receiving a lower amount of quality applicants while losing some of their officers to higher-paying private sector opportunities.

“Every chief or sheriff that I talk to across Florida is really hurting for law enforcement officers,” Balken said. “We’re competing with each other for the best and the brightest to come to our agencies.”

Balken remains confident that the issue will pass by soon though. With the highest starting salary for officers in the county and a lack of COVID-19 vaccination mandates for its officers, Balken said that the OPD draws in officers from across the nation.

Bower said she hopes that those with reservations about joining law enforcement end up becoming officers, stating that the rewards outweigh the costs.

“It is the best, most fun, and rewarding job that you can have,” Bower said. “It is everything I’ve dreamed of and more.”