MARTINS FERRY — When city Police Chief John McFarland goes off duty today, big changes will be on the horizon for him.

At the end of this shift, McFarland will officially retire from police work and move on to a new career. He will start that job Monday.

“My professional fishing career didn’t take off,” he joked. “I love fishing, but I’m not very good at it.”

And soon he will enter a new phase in his family life as well, when he and wife Tiffany welcome their first grandchild — a girl, who is due to arrive June 1.

“We’re very excited,” McFarland said. “It will be a new road for me, since we have three boys.”

McFarland said several factors helped him make the decision to end his 29-year career in law enforcement, including a job opportunity as a land agent working in Marshall County.

“We have a bunch of new officers, and it’s just kind of time to turn it over,” McFarland said in an interview at his office on Wednesday.

A 1992 graduate of Martins Ferry High School, “Mac” was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2021 for his standout performances in football, wrestling and baseball. On a cold, dreary night just two years after his graduation, he worked his first shift as a patrolman with the city’s police department, investigating a case in which someone was stealing car tires.

And he said a lot has changed since that evening in 1994.

According to McFarland, all officers — and especially the chief and other supervisors — have many more requirements to meet these days. He said all Purple City officers now wear body cameras when interacting with the public, and a lot of work goes into protecting people’s privacy when that footage is requested. He added that monthly training is required and that the department has more administrative work than one person can handle. He noted that administrative work keeps him in the office most of the time, and he misses getting out and interacting with the public.

“Thank God for Jerry Murphy,” he said of the sergeant who will assume command of the department as interim chief. “The last few years he’s been a gigantic help to me, but that’s one less officer on the road.”

McFarland cited some of the chiefs he worked under, including Chuck Bell and Paul Canter, as big influences on his career.

“We had a lot of fun back then,” he said.

McFarland’s first job in the field was as a patrolman for the village of Tiltonsville. He remained in that post for about six months before joining the force in Martins Ferry, where he spent the next 15 years working midnights. During that time, he noticed that the city had “a big drug problem” and Canter agreed to make him the department’s primary investigator of drug crimes. He learned the ropes of conducting such investigations while working with the Southeast Narcotics Task Force and individuals such as retired Lt. Bernie Beltz and Detective Larry Abel with the Cambridge police.

“It’s a pressing job,” McFarland said, terming the individuals involved in drug trafficking “the scum of the Earth” and noting that you don’t find confidential informants in nice places. “We were able to make a big punch into the bad guys here in town. That was my passion.”

One “sore spot” for the chief is seeing parents with drug addictions who do not care for their children properly. And he believes that the addiction problem generally is getting worse. In our region, he said methamphetamines are the biggest problem, noting that those who are addicted to meth are often “skinny with scabs on them, and their teeth are turning black.” Unfortunately, he said, there are many children whose parents are in that condition.

“If I had the resources, I would take every single one of them and raise them myself,” he added.

He called the Children Services workers who enter those homes and take custody of children “superheroes,” pointing out that they are not armed and often must deal with angry adults in emotional situations.

He also commended his officers and dispatchers. He believes the dispatchers play a critical role in the city, despite the fact that many Belmont County communities now rely on the 911 Center for dispatching services. And he is happy with the performance of his entire staff.

“I do have the best officers, and along the way we’ve lost a couple great ones” he said. “I’d go to battle with them any day of the week.”

He said social media is a “low point” in his career, saying that it creates extra work for the entire department, especially for school resource officers, as people make accusations and have confrontations online.

“It’s another whole job to investigate social media crimes,” he said.

He said “the kids” have been the high point of his career — kids in the community and students he has worked with as part of the Staying Clean drug-free clubs in schools across the county.

“A lot of them just need some positive attention,” he said. “We try to help every one we can.”

He recalled some of the most serious cases that have arisen during his time with the force — two murders at Jaycee Manor apartments and two cases of murder-suicide. Overall, however, he believes violent crime in the city has declined. Today the trends are thefts, breaking and enterings, burglaries, drug addictions and sex crimes, which he said are reported three to five times a week.

McFarland, 49, is more than eligible for retirement with his nearly three decades on the force. Ohio Revised Code states that police officers are eligible to retire at age 48 if they have completed 25 years of service. Beyond starting his new job, his retirement plans include spending more time with his family and three dogs. His wife will continue to teach school. He added that he might be open to returning to law enforcement in a part-time capacity “after a break.”

“I’m going to see where life takes me and be happy,” he said.