Wednesday, April 26, 2000Chief ending 30-year career
Milestone caps 60 years of family's service to police department
By Sara J. Bennett
The Cincinnati EnquirerWYOMING — Police Chief Tim World will retire July 5, ending a nearly 60-year family legacy with the city's police department.
Mr. World, a lifelong resident who dedicated his 30-year career to Wyoming, followed in the footsteps of his father, Bill World, who served 29 years as a city patrolman.
“He would have been very proud if he'd been around to see me as chief,” Mr. World said of his deceased dad.
Growing up in the community helped Chief World establish a personal-touch style of policing that residents have come to expect, City Manager Bob Harrison said. It's something Wyoming officials will be looking for in Mr. World's successor.
“The chief's history in the community ... was a unique quality that he brought to the city,” said Mr. Harrison, who hopes to have a new chief ready for work soon after Chief World leaves.
“One of the things I'm looking for is an innovative leader who can communicate well with the residents,” Mr. Harrison said.
As a boy, Mr. World had no real desire to become a police officer. He got a degree in business administration from the University of Cincinnati and worked at Sears with plans to enter retail management.
“It didn't take me long to realize that was not the kind of career I wanted,” he said. “Then the tests came open for the police department. Being around it all my life, I never realized how much it had rubbed off on me.”
Mr. World has been police chief for 10 years. He counts among his accom plishments keeping crime to a minimum in the community of 8,126, expanding the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program to five days a week, moving the police department into a new station with updated technology, and maintaining a close relationship with residents.
Vickie Ciotti, director of the Wyoming Youth Services Bureau, said Mr. World's patience and knowledge of local families helped her deal with troubled youths who came to the bureau for counseling.
“He has really almost a social-worker perspective when it comes to dealing with kids,” she said. “He has been a strong, good father figure to a lot of kids in this community.”
Mr. Harrison said he is working with the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police to find Mr. World's replacement. The job will be advertised locally and nationally, he said. It's possible a resident panel will be formed to help interview candidates.
They will have a tough time following Mr. World, Ms. Ciotti said.
“There are some people who set a gold standard for how a job should be done,” she said. “Once that person has left, we will accept no less than what that person established.”
Chief World has two sons in their early 20s, neither of whom has expressed interest in carrying on the family police tradition.
Chief World said he may continue working and will explore options after taking a little time off with his family.
“If everybody could enjoy their career like I have, they would be one lucky person,” he said. “Not only am I going to miss the career of policing, I'm going to miss all of the people I've worked with.”
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