SHARONVILLE, Ohio — Joel Altman grew up in Sharonville and after years of serving his country through federal service and the Coast Guard he’s now back home working as a patrol officer for the Sharonville Police Department.
“Coming back to this city after being away for, you know, close to 20 years was really a dream come true,” Altman said.
Now that he's back, he plans to focus on making the community better in any way, including focusing on veterans by bringing a program started in Cincinnati up to Sharonville.
The Military Liaison Program, originally started by now-retired Cincinnati Police Sergeant Dave Corlett, focuses on bringing the power of veteran camaraderie to the police force — specifically, ensuring veterans of the military serving on the force are available to respond when calls involve veterans in crisis.
The commonality of the veteran’s military service can make an immediate connection and can help deescalate a situation, allowing the officer to find the root of the problem or crisis the veteran is experiencing.
It’s something Joel Altman has experienced firsthand when an all-call across Hamilton County went out.
“They said 'we have a veteran in crisis downtown. Can you come down and talk to him?' I said absolutely," he said. "So, I got permission, I went downtown, spent the next hour or so with this young Marine, former Marine, and spent time with him just talking to him one-on-one. And he was telling me about his history and what he saw, what he went through. And I told him, 'I'm here for you any time' and ended up in a good position that day, and I followed up with him since to see how he's doing."
Having learned and participated in the veteran outreach, he wanted to fully adapt it the police department in Sharonville. That’s when he took it to police chief and Marine Corps veteran Jim Nesbitt.
“I was excited, because nobody had offered something like that here before. And it was a learning experience for me, because I didn't realize there was so much already built around Veteran's Outreach. I didn't realize that it was a veterans court, I didn't realize that Cincinnati already had a program,” Nesbitt said.
He said the solution-based policing is key no matter what the call or public interaction, but the veteran aspect certainly affords officers make a real connection.
“Twenty-first century law enforcement model is all about community engagement, and connecting and meeting their needs,” Nesbitt said. “This is one very small part of our community that, for a variety of reasons, gets overlooked or we aren't able to fully connect with. It starts at the field level where you can identify the officer in the field as a veteran. And then that just builds, it gives you a gateway to communication and helps us build the rapport that we need with different pieces that are our community.”
Altman is now working on creating a master plan that will include procedures on contacting a wide variety of resources from the VA to local non-profits.
“We now have access to the VA squares database, which gives us the ability to see if someone is in fact a veteran, what services they can get from the VA, and I have a direct line to the VA,” Altman said.
The success of this type of program within the Cincinnati Police Department and Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office that caught the eye of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. In 2021, he sent out a memo to all members of law enforcement.
“I was so impressed with this, I immediately talked to my team and said we need to push this out around the state," said Yost. "We need to help other departments begin to do this.”
His office worked directly with Corlett and created the Veterans Response Program guidelines for other police departments to follow.
Altman said by heading up the program and getting fellow military veterans on the police force to dedicate themselves to the program he feels like he’s literally following the motto of "protect and serve" as a police officer.
“This role as a veteran's outreach coordinator and group, it makes me feel like I'm doing something productive. I've made a difference in some of these people's lives,” Altman said. “I hope that the citizens of our city, and I'm sure they will, will support it and be proud of it and say that we you know, we take care of our veterans in Sharonville.”
If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email homefront@wcpo.com. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.
