Ride-along with OSU Police reveals life behind campus patrol

Blake Anderson
Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:30:26 +0000
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The Ohio State University police vehicles sit outside of Blankenship Hall. Credit: Blake Anderson | Lantern Reporter

Inside Car 34, the steady crackle of the radio broke through the quiet. Radio chatter cut in and out as Officer Karalyn Rhodeback scanned the road ahead.

During a night time ride-along with Ohio State police officer Karalyn Rhodeback, calls ranged from theft, hospital response, traffic enforcement and routine patrol.

The shift showed how the OSUPD balances community engagement, student interaction and emergency response across a large university that operates like a small city.

At approximately 9:44 p.m., Rhodeback spoke with officer Pete Tiefenthaeler while on patrol. Tiefenthaeler was working traffic control outside of the Schottenstein Center during a Christian concert.

Tiefenthaeler managed traffic flow and pedestrian walkways as people moved in and out of the venue. The two officers spoke briefly about daily life and what it is like to police large events.

“Christian concerts are usually pretty good events to work,” Achigbue said. “It’s not a rowdy bunch.”

Minutes later, Rhodeback responded to a reported food theft at Residence on Tenth, a student housing dorm at around 9:51 p.m.

She said that calls like these are common on campus and typically involve student conduct or housing staff, and review of security footage.

Before arriving, Rhodeback said that she was already thinking through how she would handle the report.

“I was just thinking about the questions you could think about and what information you need to intake, like essentially the who, when, where and why of a story,” Rhodeback said.

Once arriving at the scene, Officer Rhodeback was greeted by a resident advisor who explained the situation. She gathered initial details to help document what had occurred and determine what information needed to be included in the report.

After speaking with the RA and completing the initial on-scene assessment, she returned to her patrol vehicle.

She later received an update indicating that a description of the suspect had been identified through security footage.

Around 10:15 p.m., officers responded to a hospital-related call involving a patient refusing to leave.

Officer Katie Demi was already on scene, working with hospital staff and security.

Rhodeback spoke with Demi to assess the situation and determine next steps. She said the goal of the call was to ensure the patient had a safe ride home.

Shortly after leaving the hospital, Rhodeback was dispatched around 10:45 p.m. to Thompson Library to assist Demi on another call.

Upon arrival, she was informed it was a false alarm.

“Why is everyone doing this to me today?” Demi said, as it was not the first false alarm she had responded to that night.

During the ride-along, Rhodeback discussed her approach to policing on campus. She said she regularly makes an effort to engage with students and staff, including the on-campus animal hospital to speak with reception staff.

“They’re a bunch of lovely ladies that work there at the front desk,” Rhodeback said. “They’re pretty funny. I’ll stop in and talk to them all the time.”

Rhodeback is also part of OSUPD’s bike patrol, which allows officers to patrol populated areas of campus while maintaining closer contact with students.

She said bike patrols often make it easier to start conversations with the campus community.

“When I bike, it’s so much easier to interact with students,” she said.

Rhodeback also noted that traffic enforcement is part of her regular patrol, though she prefers an educational approach when possible.?

At the end of the shift near 11 p.m., Rhodeback returned to the station to complete her shift.

“Every day is different,” Rhodeback said. “You could come back tomorrow, and it could be a bunch of in-progress calls.”

This article was updated at 1:42 p.m. to correct the names of officer Katie Demi and officer Pete Tiefenthaeler.