Born to Serve: Meet Cadet Babcock

For many children, wanting to wear the badge is a passing phase alongside dreams of becoming an astronaut or a doctor. For Cadet Babcock, it was the start of a lifelong path. Raised in a household grounded in public service with a father already serving on the force at CPD, wearing the uniform wasn’t just a hypothetical future; it was a daily inspiration. Today, Cadet Babcock is turning that childhood ambition into action, driven by a deep commitment to protect, serve, and give back to the local community.

What sparked your interest in joining the Columbus Police Cadet Program?

I’ve wanted to become a police officer for as long as I can remember. Like many children who dream of becoming astronauts, doctors, or firefighters, I was drawn to law enforcement at an early age. As I grew older, that interest never faded. Instead, it developed into a genuine passion for serving and protecting others, which ultimately led me to pursue a career in law enforcement. My dad’s a police officer and he’s had a huge impact on me.

Seeing him come home and leaving every day, having that relentless perseverance to aid the community, even when he had a long day or even with us running around. He always got up and went out and served the community to the best of his ability and then came home and would be a dad. He is just a very strong leader and just exactly what I want to be.

Also, because I was in the PSC program, which is kind of our youth program CPD offers, I have a few mentors, Officer Johnson and Drake. They brought me into this. Really showed me what it’s like to be a police officer, but not just kind of putting bad guys away police officer, but really protecting and serving the community and engaging, going to events and talking with people and just really getting your name out there or just saying, “Hey, how’s it going? How are you doing?”

What is the biggest misconception that teenagers have about police officers, and how do you hope to change that?

I think a lot of people think that police officers are just out there to get you. At the end, to catch you slipping and to catch you when you make a mistake. And I’ve heard a lot from people who really were doubting me or telling me I shouldn’t pursue this career because of that. People are like, “Oh, they’re just out to get you, just out to put you away.” And I was shown the other side, and I want to show people the other side of police officers, which is at the core, they’re all human too, and all they really want to do is interact with the community as well. There’s a part of the job, which is protecting and serving, but it’s also that serving piece, which is going to all those events, talking to people, showing people that.

What is the most challenging physical or mental hurdle you had to overcome?

That’s a good one. I’d say probably the fact that knowing I’m going into a career where I can make such a big impact on someone and kind of a rough time that they’re going through.

As a police officer, you see people at their lowest moments, and the decisions that you make will influence their life and influence their decision-making and influence everything thereafter about their opinion with whether the police or just kind of how they go about their day. I want to make sure that I’m making every right decision, I’m treating every single person correctly, and making sure that I’m following that golden rule, and just making sure that I leave people with always a more positive impact and leaving them better than when I found them. So, I guess that kind of impact that I’m going to have on people’s lives worries me a little bit, that I want to make sure that I’m doing everyone right.

How will you use your unique perspective to connect with Columbus youth?

I want to reach people where they are and relate. I think that’s the biggest thing about how you can really get a point across or bond with someone is like, “Hey, I’ve been there. I really want to help you get their point of view.” Get their point of view, step into their shoes. Even if I’ve never been there before, even if I don’t know what that feels like, I still want to do my best to understand the position that they’re in and understand what they’re going through so that I can better relate with them.

I think with my age and being young, I can go up to another 19-year-old and be like, “Hey, man, I’ve been there before,” or, “I haven’t been there before, but I want to help you best. I want to show you what I’m doing,” and show them that at this age, we can do so many things like law enforcement this early.

Looking ahead to when you turn 21 and can take the civil service exam to become a sworn officer, what kind of impact do you want to make on the city?

I suppose the biggest one is changing the relation between citizens and police. I think it’s kind of separated right now. And I think that the biggest impact I want to do going into taking that civil service and getting on the job is I want to start building relationships to the point that whenever I go out on patrol, I know people by name, and they know me by name. Like, “Hey, how’s it going, Officer Babcock?” Or I’ll know people on the street, wave, say hi, check in on people. That’s really what I want to do. I want to build a bond with the people that I’m serving.

What advice would you give to other teenagers who are interested in law enforcement, but aren’t sure where to start?

I would say get into the youth programs. If you’re below 20, Columbus has a Public Safety Corps program. We have our cadet program. Reach out. You can go on ride-along as well. When you turn 18, you can go on two rides a year. Reach out to your local police department and dip your toes in the water. See how you like it. You can just go and just live the day of the life of an average police officer, meet police officers, and stuff like that. You’ll only know if it’s what you want to do when you start taking the steps to do it. When you start to experience it for yourself, that’s when you’ll know what to do. And if you’re thinking about it, I absolutely encourage people to do it. It’s a great career. You get to influence and help a lot of people, and overall, it’s a great pathway.

Why did you choose a career in public service through law enforcement?

To be honest, I think it was a calling from the Lord that He just really set out for me so that I can help people. I’ve always had a service heart. I’ve always just wanted to leave everyone else with a positive impact and just that I can say, walking away confidently from every situation I’ve been in, that I helped that person in some way, shape, or form.

If you didn’t pick this career, what else would you do? Would it still be helping people or totally different?

It’s kind of funny. It’s totally different. I would do meteorology. I love weather, tornadoes, all that. So, if it wasn’t this, I’d be a storm chaser and a weatherman.