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New female City Police officer already like 'one of the guys'
Greencastle's first female police officer in more than a decade hadn't even been officially sworn in Tuesday and she was already one of the guys.
As Elsiana Crosby started to take her place at the front of the City Council room at City Hall, where Mayor Sue Murray waited to swear her in, Sgt. Ed Wilson hustled over and intervened, telling her, "Fix your belt in the back! Fix your belt in the back!"
As the 23-year-old officer did, she realized the front of her uniform pants had picked up dirt from getting in and out of the car.
Teasingly, Sgt. Wilson and Chief Tom Sutherlin pointed out the dirt marks as Officer Crosby brushed them away with her hands, smiling all the while.
Moments later, after repeating the oath of office voiced by Mayor Murray, Crosby became only the third-ever fulltime female officer in City Police history, local officials believe.
"She's going to fit in quite well," Chief Sutherlin said of his newest officer, whose swearing-in puts the department back to full strength at 16 fulltime officers.
Crosby "showed a strong interest" in joining the department, the chief said, and was a top candidate during the two most recent hirings as well.
"We're glad and proud to have her as the only female officer on our department," Sutherlin said, drawing applause from the audience witnessing the ceremony at City Hall.
The daughter of Russell and Tina Crosby, she is following in the footsteps of retired department pioneer Sgt. Carol Boggess Deom and Kristi Mason, who left the Greencastle force to join the Indiana State Police and is currently a member of the Atlanta (Ga.) Police Department.
Local residents may also remember Kim Sheldon, who was a GPD reserve officer for a number of years before taking a police position in northern Indiana.
Crosby fills the department vacancy created by the resignation of Patrolman Jeff Modlin, whose last day was July 31.
She will ride along this week with Sgts. Chris Jones and Wilson on days before joining the night shift with Capt. Charles Inman and Officers Matt Huffman and Brad Hiatt.
A 2010 graduate of North Putnam High School where she played basketball, softball, soccer and ran track and cross country, Crosby graduated from Marian University in 2014 with a degree in sports performance. She also took part in the ROTC program and graduated commissioned as a second lieutenant.
After taking military police training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo., she is now a member of the Army Reserves based at Camp Atterbury.
It was while taking military police training that Crosby fell in love with the idea of becoming a police officer.
"Helping people" is what she likes about the job, and she was thrilled when her mother made her aware of the officer openings GPD had.
The one-time Putnam County Fair queen candidate says she is proud to be the city's first female officer in several years.
"It has been a while," she said of the department having a female officer. "I'm glad they picked me.
"I can't say enough about being able to be home and be around my family, and I'm proud to be part of a really good team."
With that she broke into a big smile and asked if any reference to the night shift she's joining with Inman, Huffman and Hiatt could be called "The Fantastic Four" in the newspaper.
"I'm trying to get that to catch on," she laughed, quickly suggesting she only meant it as a joke.
Yep, first day on the job, and already one of the guys.