Broadview Heights swears in new police chief

by Laura Straub 

After 32 years of service to the Broadview Heights Police Department, including 10 as chief, Michael Vizer retired at the end of March. Lt. Steven Raiff, a longtime presence in the department, was sworn in as the city’s new police chief on March 30. 

Raiff has been working in Broadview Heights law enforcement since January 1990. 

“I had wanted to be a police officer since high school and began taking civil service exams as soon as I turned 21 years old,” Raiff said. “Broadview Heights was one of the first cities to call me for an interview, and I accepted the position.” 

Raiff grew up in Parma, and staying close to friends and family was a priority. As a nice, growing suburb, he said he felt Broadview Heights was the perfect place to start his career. In the years since, the department has nearly doubled in size, and the city’s population has grown by nearly 8,000 people. 

Raiff attended the Cleveland Heights Police Academy, graduating in April 1990. He has an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Cuyahoga Community College, and in 2006, he completed Police Executive Leadership College. 

During his time working in Broadview Heights, Raiff has held just about every position in the department. From 1990-1999, he worked as a patrolman and took on additional duties as a field training officer, firearms officer and motorcycle officer. In 1999, he was assigned to the detective bureau, where he worked until July 2001, when he was promoted to sergeant and returned to working patrol. 

In 2006, Raiff was assigned back to the detective bureau as the detective sergeant, where he remained until 2013, when he was promoted to lieutenant. As lieutenant, he oversaw the detective bureau, jail and dispatch operations and the records room. 

Now, as chief of police, Raiff’s first priority is keeping the department at 32 officers. 

“We will have numerous retirements over the next five to 10 years, which means hiring new officers and promoting others,” he said. “Always having a current civil service list or looking at other possible ways to hire, such as lateral transfer, is on our agenda.” 

He also plans to step up training and specialization for officers, including new crime scene and accident investigators, bicycle officers, field training officers and motor officers, to name a few. 

“The training and specialization is important to keep officers constantly learning and engaged in the job,” Raiff said. 

Finally, he’d like to see the department become more involved in the community, whether that means being at city events, attending neighborhood block parties, participating in block watch programs or holding community coffees. Raiff added that he also liked the idea of creating business liaison officers and holding ALICE training for businesses and schools.  “Unfortunately, this COVID-19 crisis has slowed our start, but we will get through it,” Raiff said. “We have a great group of officers dedicated to the job, and our residents and I have complete confidence in them.”

Feature image photo caption: Steven Raiff is Broadview Heights’ new police chief.