Brody Tapply ‘25 grew up just 10 minutes from the Fitchburg State University campus, but the Lunenburg resident chose a more roundabout route to completing his college journey.
Tapply started his undergraduate career at another institution, but transferred in the second semester of his sophomore year to enter the groundbreaking criminal justice police concentration at Fitchburg State.
It’s been a decision that the 22-year-old never regretted. The avid outdoorsman had once considered a career as a federal game warden, but learning more about police work - including family friends in the field - struck a nerve.
Tapply completed his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in May, and is currently enrolled in the 17-week academy with fellow members of the 8th Recruit Officer Course. When he completes the program in September, he has a professional post waiting for him at the Lunenburg Police Department (and will be on his way to completing a master’s degree, all within five years). In fact, it was his chief at Lunenburg who told him about the police program at Fitchburg State.
“He said that if I wanted something more focused on policing, this is the talk of the town right now and I should go,” Tapply said. “What I love about the program the most is that it’s so centered on policing that if this is what you want to do, then Fitchburg State is 100 percent the place you want to go.”
Those hands-on learning experiences are invaluable, says Tapply. Going into his junior year, Tapply participated in the Community Service Officer program with the police department on Nantucket.
“They give you a one-week academy before you start working, so they can train you and get you familiar with the area,” Tapply said. “It gives you a really good opportunity to get out into the public and have good de-escalation skills with people and know how to interact with the public, which is super important.”
The day-to-day grind hasn’t always been a cake walk, and there have been challenges along his journey. One of Tapply’s biggest obstacles early on was his physical conditioning.
“Going into college I was not in good shape at all,” said the 6-foot-2, 188-pound Tapply, who used to weigh 270 pounds. “When I came here to Fitchburg was when I started losing weight. I was hitting the gym over that winter break. Putting physical performance above everything else is one of those factors that you can delete from your stress bar once you get into the academy.”
There have been plenty of victories during Tapply’s long road. He had friends who were also considering careers in law enforcement but who went on to change course amid wider discussions about policing and its role.
“I was fortunately able to power through it and keep working towards my goal,” he said. “They tell me all the time now that they are happy for me and they’re glad that I’m pursuing what I want to do.”
When the going gets tough, Tapply leans on the inspiration from his girlfriend, Rachel Herskovitz '25, who graduated in May with a degree in biology.
“She’s super supportive,” said Tapply, who also has a tremendous support system at home with his mother, Bevin, and father, Bill. “I don’t ever want to let her down. The best part of my day is waking up at 4 or 4:30 in the morning to shave, brush my teeth and start getting ready for the day, and when I leave the house at 5-5:15 and I send her a text to have a good day, she instantly send that motivating text out. That is the lit fire that starts the day.”
It’s all about mindset, overcoming obstacles and believing in yourself, he said.
“The mindset that I started telling myself was that every single day since I started hitting the gym and getting myself in shape to where I am now in the academy, is that if you give up what is your family going to think about you and what are your friends going to think about you?” Tapply said. “If you don’t want to do it for yourself, then do it for the people around you. Through the years of pushing myself through adversity, you gain that self-discipline and it becomes easier and easier as the process goes on.”
Tapply grew up imagining he would follow his father into the family’s wood flooring business, but it wasn’t his passion. The teamwork and adrenalin he felt from his ride along experience helped him focus. And he was grateful to find a setting so close to home to pursue his passion.
“To have a place like Fitchburg State this close, I’m very fortunate,” said Tapply, who also had encouragement from Lunenburg officers who went through the program.
“The other thing about Fitchburg State is that it’s the perfect size college, where it’s not a huge university like UMass, but it’s perfect enough where you know your professors, you know the staff here and you know your friends,” he said. “It’s very easy to go up to a professor if you’re having a problem with something or you’re not getting something, and actually get help with it. That’s why I love Fitchburg State.”
He also recommended being involved on campus as another easy way to meet fellow students with common interests. Tapply participated in club lacrosse at Fitchburg State for two years.
“That first season we won the D3 championship,” Tapply said. “It was super cool. I remember looking at the roster before I transferred here and every name I saw I remember playing youth lacrosse with them in the area. It was cool to see that chemistry click again.”
If you want to be a police officer, this is 1,000 percent the place for you.
Tapply has learned many life lessons while attending and maturing at Fitchburg State.
“I’ve learned that you can’t take what other people say to you too literally,” he said. “If it’s constructive criticism that’s one thing, but if someone is telling you to give up on something, use that as motivation. That 100 percent needs to be put in the gas tank that you can use as fuel. Another thing is that if you think you want to give up, work harder. The more and more you push yourself, the more you’re going to get conditioned to doing something so many times that it’s going to become second nature. The third thing is to lean on your friends, lean on your family. In those moments when you get stressed out – and we’re only human, everyone is going to mess up at some point and everyone is going to have their troubles and fall – that’s why being a team and having everyone around you be there for each other, is super important.”
With a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice already in hand, Tapply now is locked in on completing the academy. It’s been a challenging journey, but Tapply has distinguished himself and is currently Class Leader. The leadership role means he is responsible for making sure his fellow recruit officers are prepared for the day’s challenges, which comes with stress. But, he said, he receives steady encouragement from his future colleagues at the Lunenburg Police Department.
“On the days I go to the station, they are always asking me about the academy, and they keep reminding me, ‘Man, just push through and this is what you get to do,’” Tapply said. “I tell myself, too, that every person there went through the same thing I’m going through.”
Academy Director Ola Wysocki said Tapply continues to demonstrate enthusiasm and persistence.
“Even when he was going for his internship (in Lunenburg), he would come back and anything he got to do he was like, ‘Do you believe they let me do this?’” she said. “I told him, ‘Yes, they let you do this, but on the other hand they see the potential, they see the effort from you, and opportunities come because you are engaged.’ Brody has done the work, he knows what he wants, he knows where he wants to work, and he knows where he wants to be and how to get there.”
Tapply said the classroom instruction combined with his academy training and internship experiences will provide solid grounding as he begins his career.
“My mentality has been to focus on what you have to do in that moment and everything will build,” Tapply said. “But 1,000 percent throughout the day I’m thinking that I can’t wait to walk across that stage and be a police officer.
“If you want to be a police officer, this is 1,000 percent the place for you,” Tapply continued. “You won’t get more hands-on experience anywhere else than here and you won’t get any pre-academy experience like this.”