Officer Johnathon Wazen’s anxiety was through the roof. It was August, he’d stepped onto the mat for his second martial arts tournament of the year, and he’d set himself a goal he had no intention of walking back from: first place. “I had set a goal for myself to come in first, and I was determined not to let the nerves get in the way,” he said. By the end of the day, he’d done it, taking first in one division and second in another, just months after placing third in his very first tournament back in January.
It’s not the first time Wazen has had to push through pressure to get somewhere he set his mind on. He grew up the son of a Syracuse-area officer, in a household he describes as strict, and he’s candid that he wasn’t always the easiest kid to raise. It wasn’t until after high school that law enforcement started to feel less like his father’s path and more like his own. And it wasn’t just his father’s footsteps he was following. His grandfather had worn the badge too, making Wazen the third generation in his family to go into the field.
Today, what keeps him motivated isn’t the family history so much as what the job lets him do with it. “Being able to serve the community I call home and have a meaningful impact on the lives of others is what makes this career so rewarding to me,” he said. That’s not a small detail for Wazen. He grew up in the Syracuse area, which means the students, faculty, staff, and visitors he protects on campus aren’t an abstraction to him. They’re his community, the one he was raised in.
Since graduating from the academy, Wazen says the job has taught him that no two days, and no two calls, ever look the same. A typical shift starts with roll call, where his sergeant passes along updates before the team heads out, but what happens after that is never predictable. What’s stayed consistent, he says, is what makes the job worth it: the moments where he’s able to help someone through a genuinely difficult time. “Those moments are the ones that continue to motivate me and remind me why I chose this career in the first place,” he said.
That same ability to stay level under pressure is what Wazen credits martial arts with sharpening. What started as a casual interest in combat sports turned into serious competition, and the lessons didn’t stay on the mat. “One of the biggest things martial arts has taught me that carries over into my work as an officer is knowing my own abilities and understanding what I’m capable of,” he said. On a call, that self-knowledge translates directly: a clearer head, steadier composure, and the confidence that comes from having already tested himself under pressure, on his own terms, before the job ever asked him to.
Wazen doesn’t romanticize the badge, but he’s clear-eyed about what it actually offers someone willing to take it seriously. “You are more than just a law enforcement officer,” he said, of what he’d tell anyone considering the field. “You become a mentor, a resource, and someone students can turn to when they need guidance.” It’s that part of the job, the relationships built along the way, with students and with the coworkers who’ve supported him, that he says has made his time at DPS meaningful. Three generations in, it turns out the family legacy was never really about the badge itself. It was about what you choose to do once you’re wearing it.