Ohio State Highway Patrol Superintendent's Office

Colonel John Born

Prior to his appointment to Superintendent in January 2011, Colonel Born, a 25-year veteran of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, served as a field operations commander for the eastern half of Ohio, overseeing all operations from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.  In that capacity, he helped to significantly boost criminal patrol and drug interdiction successes. Also in that assignment, he led the implementation of interoperable communications to enable troopers to better respond to critical incidents at Ohio’s state universities. His efforts with a multi-state and multi-agency exercise helped lead the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s selection as the national recipient of the United States Department of Homeland Security partnership award.

In his first year after his appointment to Superintendent, the Patrol achieved, with an approximate 10 percent reduction in their work force, a significant reduction in fatal crashes and a significant increase in OVI arrests. He elevated criminal patrol to the same mission level as highway safety with a subsequent increase in every significant category of drugs seized.

Organizational structure changes were made in January 2011, assigning drug dogs to new locations, merging Homeland Security/Intelligence/Critical Information functions and establishing the Critical Information and Communication Center (a 24-hour command center staffed by command personnel for coordinating assets and information during critical incidents with state-of-the art equipment to monitor and disseminate critical information).  “Shield” Details were implemented where troopers and local law enforcement officers work together to address traffic safety and criminal activity.  Metro operations were established positively impacting highway safety and criminal patrol by working the edges of Ohio’s metropolitan areas.

Significant organizational structure changes were also made moving a large number of officers out of General Headquarters into operational roles. The Senior Advisors Group was created to broaden field commander input into key decisions and the Patrol was able to graduate the 150th class and start and graduate the 151st Cadet Class. Current cadet class time was cut from 30 weeks to 22 weeks saving more than $580,000; all with no decrease in instruction hours but through more efficient scheduling of cadet time.

With cost savings through vendor contract renegotiation, deletion of nonessential phone and wireless internet services, condensed cadet training, use of contract workers and the elimination of a major’s position, the Patrol saved nearly one million dollars in the first three quarters of 2011.

After graduation from the Patrol Academy, he served at the Athens Post as a road trooper for five years and earned the Jackson District Trooper of the Year award and twice earned the Post Trooper of the Year honors. After promotion to sergeant and serving at the Wapakoneta Post, he was selected as the Patrol’s public information officer. As spokesperson, he received the Patrol Certificate of Recognition and an award from Ohio’s Governor for his efforts related to the 1993 Lucasville prison riot. In 1996, he transferred to become a supervisor within the Patrol’s Office of Investigative Services.

In 1999, he was awarded the prestigious J. Stannard Baker award of excellence in highway safety from the International Association of Chiefs of Police for developing the Patrol’s Partners for Safety program. While serving the ranks of lieutenant, staff lieutenant and captain, he oversaw the development of the Patrol’s nationally recognized use of predictive crash mapping and other innovations in law enforcement services.

He has been twice elected to serve as a trustee of the Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System where he is currently serving as a chairman. He represented the Patrol at the Ohio General Assembly for nearly 10 years and has served on the Governor’s Task Force on Impaired Driving, the Ohio Prevention and Education Resource Board, and as Chairman of LEADS overseeing Ohio’s criminal justice computer network and interface with the FBI computer network. In 2011, he was selected to serve on the International Association of Chief's of Police's Highway Safety Committee. In 2012, he was invited to the White House with 35 other law enforcement leaders to discuss homeland security issues and was subsequently selected to serve on a related national committee.

He holds Bachelor of Science in journalism and Master of Social Science in deviant behavior degrees from Ohio University. He has successfully completed governance training at Harvard Business School and leadership training at the United States Army War College. He and his wife, Kathy, have two children.