MANSFIELD — The new major at the Richland County Sheriff’s Office didn’t need to change the name on his office door.
That’s because Joe Masi isn’t really new.
Sheriff Steve Sheldon’s right-hand man, who retired almost eight months ago, has returned to a post that been left unfilled since his departure in June 2021.
“I had a lot of projects that I wanted to take care of and that was filling my days,” the 60-year-old law enforcement veteran said Monday of his time away.
“I really enjoyed it. I was able to reconnect with some friends and family and to do the things that I hadn’t been able to do.”
Masi’s relationship with the Richland County Sheriff’s Office began in 1980 when he was 18. While at the sheriff’s department, he rose to the rank of captain in charge of the patrol bureau.
After nine years, he worked for then-Richland County Prosecutor James J. Mayer as an investigator until 1997.
He worked for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections as a warden’s assistant before returning to the sheriff’s department as captain of the corrections division in March 2011.
Masi had been the department’s chief deputy for eight years when he stepped down.
“When I retired, I had no intentions of coming back,” he said. “However, as time went on, I needed that connectivity with the people I had worked with for years … not only in law enforcement, but in other agencies.
“These are people I have become friends with and with whom I have great working relationships,” Masi said.
Masi and Sheldon are long-time friends and stayed in contact after he left the department.
“He would ask me, ‘Are you ready to come back?’ I honestly felt I wasn’t coming back. But as time went on, I realized I was really missing what I did for a living,” said Masi, who retired from the State of Ohio in 2009.
In mid January, Masi said he spoke with his family about the decision he faced.
“That was my No. 1 concern,” he said. “What would my family think about me going back to work? They were very supportive of my retirement, but they also understood the love I have for this job. They supported me going back to work.
“I called the sheriff on a Monday evening and we met on a Tuesday morning. I started back to work the following Monday (Jan. 24),” Masi said.
EASY TRANSITION: It was an easy transition back into the RCSO, especially since his office next to the sheriff hadn’t been touched, including the name outside the door.
“I had pretty much picked up where I left off by the end of the first week. We have three great captains (Don Zehner, Chris Blunk and Jim Sweat). They are excellent at what they do and continued doing that without me being here.
“Any issues they had, of course, went directly to the sheriff and that was an extra load on him, managing three captains and dealing with the issues that come up.
“But all three captains did a great job. It’s incredible the amount of work they do to keep everything running,” Masi said.
The major said he has been working on the department’s paperwork to be re-accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. He is also helping oversee an investigation into an apparent inmate suicide at the county jail on Feb. 11.
“We want to investigate exactly what occurred in these kinds of instances. That touches off a lot of things. You want to know what happened, from A to Z. You want to know if there is anything you could have done differently to prevent something like that from happening,” Masi said.
BUILDING A FUTURE: Another task faced by Masi, and law enforcement in general, is staffing. He said the department has good employees — it just needs more of them.
“We have well-trained, smart, young deputies,” he said. “I really enjoy working with them.
“We are down about 20 corrections officers in the jail, which is a quarter of our force there. We’re down about 10 patrol deputies, which is also about a quarter of our force. I believe we are down four (911) dispatchers,” he said.
“We are short-handed. Everybody’s competing for the same people out there for corrections, law enforcement and 911. We are re-evaluating our recruiting (methods) and looking at how we can attract more people interested in the career,” he said.
“I think the issue is there are a lack of interest in people who want to get into law enforcement,” Masi said. “Until that changes, we’re going to continue to have this problem.”
HAPPY TO BE BACK: The biggest surprise Masi encountered during his time away was how much he missed the people with whom he worked.
“I thought it would be nice to get away from everything because of what you do every day on the job. But as soon as that goes away, you miss it. And I’ve got a great boss. I’m not just telling you that because you’re sitting in front of me. This sheriff is all about what can he do next to make this department better?
“I have seen some great improvements, especially from when I was here, back in the 1980s, compared to coming back here. I would love to have been a deputy starting out now in this department compared to what it was back in the 80s.
“I feel like they got the best equipment, the best training. The pay is where it needs to be. Then, the people that we’re hiring are outstanding. I feel like I left a place that was really running well.
“But yet you miss it and you want to go back to it. My job is to be a resource for these younger deputies and try to make things better for them, help make sure they get the skills and training they need.”
