By Brett Milam
Editor
Members of the Milford City Department are giving back and helping the homeless in the community with the “cover cubby” program. 
Kim Sheangshang, police clerk, Officers Danielle Wilson and Megan Eshman, and CJ Combs and Sara Dooley, Hamilton County communications operators, came together on the cover cubby, which is a storage bin at the parking lot of the Municipal Building parking lot near the recycling dumpsters for homeless or marginalized members of the community to get free blankets.
The Municipal Building is located at 745 Center St. The women helped to build, stock and deliver the cubby themselves.
Part of the initiative was the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a bed shortage and limited capacity at area shelters. Blankets are one of the ways they are trying to help, Jamey Mills, police chief, said.
But the other part is that the cover cubby is a continuation of the service-minded and community-minded culture at the department cultivated by Mills. For example, Sheangshang has donated toiletries to the James Sauls Homeless Shelter in Batavia, and Wilson started the Diapers, Shoes and Coats program a few years ago.
Mills said professional police agencies need to employ officers with tactical skills, but also a “heart for service.”
“It starts with hiring the right people. Every part of our recruitment and selection process is designed to find the right for Milford; someone who wants to take every opportunity to engage the community,” he said.
While there may not be the same career opportunities available at a larger police department, Mills said what the department can offer is a chance to really make a difference and “leave your mark on a community.”
“We tell recruits that they’ll never get to rid motorcycles or horses here, but they will have endless opportunities to make a difference,” he said.
That heart for service begins with a physical manifestation in the form of the Milford Police Department Challenge Coin, which goes along with an officer’s badge upon swearing in. Mills explained that the challenge coin serves as a “constant reminder of our values of integrity, professionalism, cooperation and commitment.”
“I’ve been very blessed with good hires over my 10 years as chief. I’ve only hired one officer [who] wasn’t a good fit for the culture here. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for either one of us to figure it out and he left,” Mills said.
Wilson, who has been with the department for nearly eight years, said when she first became an officer, she thought “knocking down doors and shooting” was going to be the norm, but that is “far from the truth.”
“Many people don’t understand how police work has evolved into what it is today,” she said. “I have been involved in community outreach programs from the beginning of my career with Milford and I do more community policing than anything during my 12-hour shift.”
That community policing looks like senior visits, vacation checks, to “simply engaging with the everyday person.”
“I was once told that, ‘You can teach someone the job, but you can’t teach someone to be a good person.’ I believe that when you’re a good person, you become a good cop, and that’s what this job is about is being a good person,” Wilson said.
While it is often the case that people’s interactions with the police occur during their own worst moments, it is the police’s job to show compassion for those people during tough times, she said.
“It’s not rainbows and sunshine, but as human beings, we have to continue to see the good and strive to make that positive change that our world needs now, more than ever,” Wilson added.
Programs like the cover cubby are typically started by the officers themselves or even a resident. As Mills pointed out, one of their distinguishing programs in the region, which was proposed in 2012 by a resident with an autistic son, is Project Lifesaver. Project Lifesaver is a program that helps department locate individuals with cognitive conditions causing the life-threatening behavior of wandering, according to the website.
The department applied for and received a grant to fund for the equipment and training.
“Nine years later, we’re one of the only departments in the region to provide that peace of mind to our residents with special needs family members,” Mills said.
As for the cubby program, it was proposed by Eshman, Combs and Dooley.
“Oftentimes, our dispatchers are overlooked when people recognize the dedication and sacrifice of public safety workers, but their role is just as vital as any other,” Mills said. “The director of our Communications Center, Andrew Knapp, encourages his employees to find ways to connect with our residents.”