By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ferrell

A police chief who has had his share of trouble lately was recognized Thursday for a lifetime of leadership.

Mason Chief Ron Ferrell, whose career spans more than 30 years and includes three jobs as chief, received the Theodore S. Jones Service Award from the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.

The award is given annually to a chief who is devoted to the pursuit of excellence and professionalism. Ferrell received the award at the association's annual banquet at the Westin Hotel in downtown Cincinnati, where the chiefs are holding a four-day conference.

The honor comes just weeks after Ferrell was arrested on contempt charges for refusing a judge's order to transport inmates from the county jail. The charges were later dropped after the city agreed to provide Judge George Parker's bailiffs with a car.

"He is a consummate professional," said Todd Wurschmidt, the association's executive director since 1985.

"If you ask chiefs of police around the state, if not the country, who they consider the top five chiefs, Ron Ferrell's name pops up again and again and again."

Ferrell, 55, served as chief in Lebanon and Dublin, Ohio, before being hired six years ago in Mason. He is past president of the state chiefs association and has been heavily involved on the national and state levels in pushing accreditation of police agencies, which sets standards for their operation.

A former member of the governor-appointed Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission, Ferrell, who holds a doctorate degree, was instrumental in founding a state leadership college for police executives, Wurschmidt said.

"You probably won't find a chief of police that is more interested in issues of training and education for police officers," he said.

"You don't go into a meeting with Ron that you don't come out with three or four ideas. Mason is fortunate to have him - or any place he decides to hang his hat."

E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com