When Gary Stone was 10 years old, his mother was driving down the New York State Thruway when a flat tire caused her to pull over and tie a handkerchief around the radio antenna.
Within five minutes, a New York state trooper came to their rescue and changed their tire.
“I watched him change the tire and I said, ‘Wow, that’s a really cool job. I want to do that someday,’” Stone said.
Having seen firsthand how police officers can make a difference, he was motivated to pursue a career in law enforcement.
“It always meant a lot to me when I could help people in some of their most difficult hours of their lives,” Stone said.
Now he is stepping into the role of Kent’s police chief, after being sworn in on July 13, following former Police Chief Nick Shearer's decision to voluntarily step back.
Stone’s new position serves as a homecoming for him, returning to the city where he first began his career in law enforcement as a criminal justice major at Kent State University.
During his time at Kent State, the North Tonawanda, New York native took courses pertaining to humanity, sociology, conflict, crime and corrections and even worked for the Kent State University Police Department in 1984.
After graduating from Kent State, he chose to begin his career as a patrol officer at the Lakewood Police Department because knew that he would want to take on leadership positions in the future and appreciated the department’s advancement opportunities. In Lakewood, he served as a patrol officer, accident administrator, sergeant, lieutenant and captain.
“I knew that I would eventually want a leadership position where I could supervise others, where I could have a say in departmental management, that I could work closely with the community, develop officers to bring out their best skills,” he said.
Kevin Fischer, Lakewood police chief, met then-lieutenant Stone as a patrolman in 1999, and recalled Stone being a mentor to everyone in the department.
“He was in a role here as administrative captain for the better part of 17 or 18 years, and he dealt with the jail a lot of times,” Fischer said. “Almost every time, somebody who’s come to jail is not having a good day, and Gary would always lend that empathetic ear. He was always willing to help whenever he could, within reason, and he was always willing to listen.”
Eventually, Stone and Fischer became friends, and Fischer would invite Stone and his family to his parent’s house on Christmas Eve. Stone’s friendly attitude and infectious personality led to him forming a friendship with Fischer’s dad, too.
“He’s the most genuine person I know. What you see is what you get. There’s zero fakeness in Gary — I think that attracts people towards him,” Fischer said.
Fischer took on the role of Lakewood police chief in the summer of 2023. Stone viewed his friend as a mentor and turned to him for advice about becoming Kent’s police chief.
“I just told him to be genuine, to be himself. He's a constant professional where he’s always represented the department very well, represents himself well,” Fischer said. “He’s intelligent. I just told him, ‘Be yourself. Don’t try to be something you’re not. You’ve got all the attributes to do it. Just go out and do it.’”
Following his advice, Stone applied for the position in February.
Why Kent needed a new chief
In an Oct. 15 memorandum to Kent City Manager Dave Ruller, Shearer requested to be demoted and take on the position of police captain. Shearer served as Kent’s police chief from 2020 to 2026, after starting at the department in 2008 as an officer.
“I’ve spent considerable time reflecting on my roles and the challenges we’ve faced. I feel that my skillset is more aligned with the role of police captain than it was with the role of police chief,” Shearer said in the memorandum. “This realization has been difficult, but it has also strengthened my resolve to continue contributing in a meaningful way.”
When the department announced that Stone would be Kent’s new chief, an Akron Beacon Journal article published the following week inaccurately reported that Shearer was stepping into his new role “following an undisclosed investigation that cleared him of any wrongdoing.”
Shearer’s Oct. 15 memorandum had followed the announcement of an employee being placed on administrative leave on Oct. 1. In an Oct. 22 written reprimand, it was revealed that the employee – not Shearer – had been under investigation for “spending his duty days surfing the internet for purposes not related to his duties.”
To fill Shearer’s vacancy, Kent began looking for an applicant with command-level experience, and it was highly recommended for them to have a college education and to have advanced police schooling.
Having served as a captain for nearly 17 years, holding a bachelor’s degree from Kent State and a master’s degree from Cleveland State University, as well as being a certified law enforcement executive trained at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, in 2010, Stone felt confident about his qualifications.
After the department announced Stone’s new position, Ruller said in an email that the city is “delighted to welcome Chief Stone to Kent.”
A Kent homecoming
Although he was happy to return to the city where it all started, he still had some nerves he couldn’t shake.
“It was really an unusual feeling walking into this police station for the first time as the chief. I got out of my car and took a deep breath and said, ‘Gary, you’ve done enough studying, reading and learning. Now, it’s time to put things to use in what you did,’” Stone said.
During his first weeks in Kent, he has already begun introducing himself to others and is intent upon learning everyone’s names, their goals, their experience and what changes they’d like to see.
Having helped foster an atmosphere of growth at Lakewood, Stone hopes to do the same at Kent and provide the city with outstanding police service.
“I want to bring out the best skillsets that we have in these members of this department,” he said. “Every member of the police department has a unique skillset and I want to tap into their skillsets and have them in positions where they can best serve the community.”