ONTARIO — Some of Jon Sigler’s favorite memories as a police officer involve his family.
At his promotion ceremony to sergeant on Wednesday, he shared a memory of driving his daughter Addie to school in a command truck.
“She was in elementary school when I got to take the command truck to school for safety day,” he said. “She was all about it.”
A 24-year veteran of the police force, the Ontario Police Department promoted Sigler to sergeant on Feb. 26. He began his career at the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy sheriff.
A 1999 graduate of Mansfield Senior High School, Sigler attended Mount Vernon Nazarene University before graduating from the North Central State College Police Academy in 2001.
Sigler has served as a corrections officer, road patrol officer, deputy investigator, detective, school resource officer and a hostage negotiator in his years in law enforcement.
“He brought dedication and expertise to the City of Ontario Police Department,” Police Chief Tommy Hill said at Sigler’s promotion ceremony. “It’s been an honor to work with you Jon, and I’m happy to see you take a step forward in your career.”
Sigler will oversee midnight shift patrol for the city. He has been with the department since 2006, with roles including patrol officer, detective and a negotiator with the Richland County Hostage Negotiation team.
“I think my time as a negotiator was one of the most formative experiences I’ve had,” Sigler said. “Those have obviously been very harrowing at times, but we’ve saved some lives and I’m proud of that work.”
Sigler’s wife Lyvennia, 16-year-old daughter Addie, in-laws and cousins attended his swearing-in ceremony.
“One of the best things about our work is it’s family-oriented so I’m really glad they’re all here,” the new sergeant said.
Sigler said his goal as sergeant is to increase efficiency and proactive policing.
“You always want to be more efficient in this job, so my goal is to be more proactive than reactive, and better serve the community,” he said.
The Ontario police department now has four sergeants, following the allowances of legislation city council passed in February. Sgt. Casey Bly will formally take on the responsibility of training coordinator.
“Being able to promote two sergeants in a matter of two months is pretty good for a police department and I’m grateful to be able to do that,” Hill said.
Mayor Kris Knapp said the city administration “cannot be more excited” about the police department’s restructuring.
“Having four sergeants means if one is off, we have another sergeant to fill in on whatever that shift may be,” Knapp said.
“We’re very excited for the new education our officers have each year, and having a sergeant in charge of coordinating that. This is only going to enhance our city and we couldn’t be more excited.”
