Lance Deshuk

State Trooper Credits JVS Law Enforcement Program For Laying The Foundation for His Career

Lance Deshuk, Law Enforcement and Security, Class of: 1991
Lance Deshuk knew at a very young age that he wanted to become a police officer. . . and the Law Enforcement & Security Program at the Lorain County JVS helped him reach his goal of becoming an Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper.

“I saw a very bad traffic accident on a busy highway when I was a boy,” stated Deshuk. “I was impressed by how the police took control of the situation.”

“In 1989, when I learned about a new Law Enforcement & Security Program beginning at the JVS, I knew I had to be there. I jumped at the chance,” continued Deshuk.

“The hands-on experience provided by my instructor Steve Maurer, a former Lorain County Sheriff Sergeant, was invaluable,” said Deshuk, a 1990 graduate of Firelands High School. (Maurer was the lead instructor who helped implement the program; he is now a supervisor at the JVS.)

“Crash investigations are the bread and butter of the Highway Patrol,” said Deshuk, who works at the Patrol’s Elyria Post. “Mr. Maurer’s working knowledge of law enforcement - how to handle everything from crime scenes to car accidents – helped lay the foundation for my future.”

Deshuk also learned important terminology – the words, phrases and codes associated with police work - through the Law Enforcement Program, which helped in his job selling police equipment for an Amherst merchant during his junior and senior years at the JVS.

After graduation, Deshuk worked as an auxiliary policeman in Grafton, attended Peace Officer Training and worked part-time for the South Amherst Police Department. He attended the Highway Patrol Academy and became a full-time trooper in 2002.

He and his wife, Charlene, a 1988 JVS graduate, have two children and live in Oberlin, a stone’s throw from the school.

“Living so close makes it easy for me to stay in touch with my teachers,” affirmed Deshuk, who serves on the JVS Law Enforcement Business/Partnership Advisory Committee.

“Like other professions, the technology of police work is constantly changing,” said Deshuk, who regularly shares his knowledge of radar, lasers and electronic speed measuring devices with JVS students. “I want to pass on some of the knowledge that I have acquired over the years.”

“I enjoy returning to the JVS to work with the students and look forward to working with Shawn Hadaway, the program’s new instructor who is also retired from the Lorain County Sheriff’s Department,” continued Deshuk.

Deshuk said the best advice he ever received came from his mentor, Steve Maurer. “Mr. Maurer told me to ‘find a job that you love and you’ll never work again,’” Deshuk said. “And I really love my job!”

For more information about the Lorain County JVS Law Enforcement and Security Program, contact 440/774-1051, ext. 247, or visit www.lcjvs.com.