Chad R. Oates

“RCC gave me the fundamentals. Due to my RCC education and training that I got from the Sheriff’s Office, I was fortunate enough to survive a bad ordeal….I apply (the safety procedures I learned at RCC) every day on the job. Every cop does if he or she is going to be successful.”

Chad R. Oates had worked in mills and manufacturing plants for 12 years, including Ramtex, Klaussner, and Energizer. “I was unhappy and wanted a change,” said Chad. “I was thinking about law enforcement or truck driving. But I didn’t want to be away from my family for long periods that were required for truck driving.”

While talking about law enforcement, a buddy he worked with told him, “You know you can take that training at RCC.” Chad called the campus, then went to the Emergency Services Training Center to meet with the Basic Law Enforcement Training director. “The timing was perfect,” he said. “It was about two weeks before classes actually started so I had to rush and get my paperwork in.”

Chad modestly says he did “fairly well in school for being an older student.” He was 31 at the time. He finished second in the class academically, just one-tenth of a point behind the class leader. He also finished near the top of the class in physical fitness.

After graduating from RCC in 2006, Chad worked as a reserve officer for the Asheboro Police Department for 3-4 months before joining the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.

In May 2009, his training was put to the test when he responded to an armed robbery. He encountered the two suspects fleeing in a vehicle and gave chase. When they pulled off the road and stopped, he expected them to try and run. Instead they opened fire on him and his vehicle. He took cover and returned fire, wounding one of the suspects who later died. The other suspect fled in the car and was eventually apprehended, months later.

During the confrontation, Chad’s patrol car was riddled with more than 40 bullets, but, thanks to his quick thinking, he only had a cut from the shattered auto glass. In March 2010, Chad was honored with a Medal of Valor from the National Sheriff’s Association. According to the NSA’s Web site, the Medal of Valor “is given for an act of outstanding personal bravery, intelligently performed, in the line of duty at imminent personal hazard of life.”

“Due to my RCC education and training that I got from the Sheriff’s Office, I was fortunate enough to survive a bad ordeal and got honored,” said Chad.

Chad gives a lot of credit to his instructors at RCC. “The fact that experienced officers taught the classes says a lot,” he said. “They set the standard for us and helped us achieve the standard.” He said while learning patrol techniques in school, the instructors set up scenarios of what the officers might run into on the job. Those scenarios ranged from confronting a suspicious person with a concealed firearm to safely subduing a suicidal, mentally handicapped person. “We learned how to pat them down and unarm them. The situations were very realistic,” he said.

A native of Bennett, Chad went to Chatham Central High School. He lives in Coleridge, with his wife, Jill, who works for Wachovia Bank. They have two daughters, Emily, 9, and Amber, 7. A member of Moons Chapel Baptist Church, Chad and his wife teach the 3- to 5-year-old Sunday School class there.

Chad said he is considering coming back to RCC to pursue his associate degree in Criminal Justice and possibly taking the classes online. “It will help further my career,” he said.

Senior Patrol Chad R. Oates
Randolph County Sheriff’s Office
Medal of Valor recipient
RCC Basic Law Enforcement Training graduate

 

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