On Jan. 11, Ryan Vaclavik had finally achieved his lifelong goal of becoming a police officer by gradating from the police academy in Houston, Texas.
One would think that Vaclavik would be happy to be patrolling the streets, but he began missing his family and the lifestyle associated with living in a small town.
After a few weeks on the job, the 23-year-old Medfield, Massachusetts native took a huge chance: he quit his job in Houston to find something closer to home.
“I thought I could do it, but it just wasn’t for me,” said Vaclavik, who on Monday was sworn in as a police officer in Dublin. “I had only been on the streets for a couple weeks when I decided that I didn’t want to get too established.”
Vaclavik’s journey in Houston began in June of 2016, after he began growing frustrated with not being able to get a job as an officer in Massachusetts. While his test scores on the civil service exam — a requirement to become a police officer in the state of Massachusetts — were good, they weren’t good enough to make the cut.
With the test being offered once every two year, Vaclavik began looking into other ways to become a police officer, widening his search across the country.
After speaking with a friend working in Arlington, Texas, Vaclavik made the decision to apply for a position in Houston.
“I wound up in Houston because when I looked at a map, I thought it was closer to the coast,” said Vaclavik, who said he and his family frequented Hampton Beach on many summer weekends when he was a kid. “I love the ocean. I would live on it if I could.”
Vaclavik’s aspirations to join the boys in blue began at the age of 5, when his parents purchased a SWAT playset for him. His desire to become an officer only grew deeper when his parents starting letting him watch the reality TV show “Cops.”
“I was pretty hooked at a young age,” said Vaclavik. “[Being a police officer] has always been a calling for me.”
Vaclavik constantly looked for ways to break into the field, joining the Westwood, Massachusetts Police Department’s explorers program in October 2011, which provides young adults in the Westwood area to learn from and work with police officers by going to meetings, training session, completing ride-alongs and community service projects, and more.
Vaclavik also began working as a security officer for a private security company in June 2012. Vaclavik would continue as a member of the explorers and would work as a security guard until June 2016, when he moved to Houston.
“I had a neighbor that was a police officer and he told me that security work could be a good stepping stone,” said Vaclavik.
Vaclavik said his experiences thus far have taught him a number of valuable lessons that he hopes to translate into his position with Dublin, most notably the importance of a first impression.
“I want to be approached,” said Vaclavik, who recently moved to Peterborough. “I don’t want people to be afraid of me. I want people to feel safe.”
Dublin Police Chief Tim Suokko said in a phone interview Wednesday that Vaclavik is exactly what he was looking for when he began the search to fill the department’s last full-time vacancy.
“He was a very attractive candidate,” said Suokko. “He has a positive attitude and is very eager to work for the town.”
Having already completed the police academy in Texas, Vaclavik will only need to complete the law portion of the New Hampshire police academy, which begins in May. Vaclavik is currently working for Dublin, pairing up with Suokko or sergeant Jeremy Jeffers to get the lay of the land.
“I get to walk into the academy wearing a polo and khakis with my Dunkin’ Donuts,” said Vaclavik, with a laugh. “I already did the hard stuff.”
Vaclavik understands that Dublin may not have the same level of crime as a large city like Houston, but he is ready to get to work.
“There’s a lot of evil, a lot of hurt and bad in this world,” said Vaclavik. “My job is to be a barrier for the community from all of that. It’s a nerve-wracking job, but being able to do something about it is really cool.”
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.