Two officers join Oxford Police Department’s tight-knit family

The Oxford Police Department (OPD) swore in two officers, Lauren Uhl and Dimitri Tuzin, on April 7 during an Oxford City Council meeting.

Lauren Uhl

Uhl, 23, served as the class sergeant of her cohort at Butler Tech’s Basic Police Academy. Having grown up in Ross Township, Uhl said she knows the Oxford area well.

“It’s very rewarding (to be sworn in) because I’ve been training so hard for five months in the academy … it makes me feel very accomplished, especially with all the people surrounding me, like my family and friends,” Uhl said.

She said getting this job was very surreal because she never imagined herself in this position. She earned an associate's degree in landscape horticulture from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and previously worked as a horticulturist. She worked with plants for a year and then had the idea to attend the academy last summer. 

She wanted a change of pace to a field that would challenge her every day and include hands-on work. She also has a lot of friends in law enforcement who helped talk her into going to the academy. 

“I was excited to choose (Oxford) because I’ve heard the family aspect here is very good, like it’s very close-knit,” Uhl said. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve made a couple friends from here, and it’s fun because there’s only two other girls. So it’s kind of fun seeing us three work together and kind of empower each other.”

Uhl said being a part of that family aspect has been her favorite part so far. She learned from this experience in taking a new career path to never feel stuck in a job.

“You can always change what you’re doing if you’re not enjoying it,” Uhl said. “Because I did, and now I love this job. It’s rewarding every day. Being able to be there for people’s worst days and their best days. It’s truly amazing.”

Dimitri Tuzin

Tuzin, 32, immigrated to the United States from Belarus at 8 years old. He didn’t have any family members in law enforcement or people in the role he could look up to. When he decided to go to the academy, he said his family didn’t support him, and his friends didn’t understand the decision at first. 

He said back in Belarus, people consider the law enforcement profession corrupt. So when his family found out he wanted to be a police officer, they told him to find a different profession. 

But he saw the profession as an opportunity for good.

When Tuzin came to America at a young age, he didn't make many friends because he didn't speak English very well. He struggled to adapt to a different cultural change and got in with the wrong crowd.

“I actually got caught shoplifting when I was about 11 (to) 12 years old, and I was so embarrassed,” Tuzin said. “That one incident kind of resonated with me. I was always a rule follower, so for me to go out and do something like that was crazy.”

Years later, he looked back on the experience and wanted to be a role model for other people in his shoes to potentially do better. Tuzin graduated from high school in 2012 and attended Columbus State Community College to study middle school education, switched to computer science and hated it, tried working in FedEx warehouses for a bit, and finally transferred to the police academy in 2016. 

His first job was in Powell, Ohio, a small city about 30 minutes north of Columbus. He moved to the Union County Sheriff's Office to work as a public safety officer in 2018, and then left to finish a degree in psychology at Ohio State University in 2024. 

After graduating again, he moved to Tiffin, Ohio, where he met his wife and worked at a developmental center. Tuzin started job searching again in 2025 and joined the OPD in March. 

Like Uhl, he said he also appreciates the tight-knit group in the department.

“Every place is going to have drama, and I haven’t really seen it here,” Tuzin said. “So from what I've observed personally, I feel like this is a department that I want to stick around with and work long-term.” 

Tuzin said he looks forward to opportunities for growth, advancement and specialized teams. He would like to get involved more in his career once he gains experience in the Oxford area and is more equipped for the challenges the new environment brings.

“My goal is to spend my career feeling like I’ve done something and learned something, and I never want to feel like I'm just stale and I never learned,” Tuzin said. “Life is about learning.”

Lieutenant Adam Price of the OPD said it’s always exciting to have younger, newer officers around and to help them, see them learn and work on their craft. 

“I think they're going to be great additions to the police department as well to the community,” Price said. “Both of them really exemplify what you want with community policing and things like that … it's really refreshing.”