Trustees Corner by Trustee David DePasquale

Unbeknownst to Sagamore Hills Township, Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree had been working on a grant to help smaller police agencies. Fatheree took time out of her day to pop into our police station with a surprise for Chief David Hayes. Fatheree said, “Dave, I have been working on a grant for small police agencies and the grant was approved. Place an order for a new Dodge Durango or any other police vehicle you want.” The grant was not to exceed $42,675. A Dodge Durango at state purchasing lists for $40,934.

I arrived for our monthly meeting 15 minutes after Fatheree left, and I could have knocked Chief Hayes over with a feather. Sagamore Hills Township has never had a county sheriff work so hard for/with our police department as Fatheree. The previous Summit County sheriff had been hostile, unprofessional and indifferent in working with our police department. On behalf of township Trustees Paul Schweikert, John Zaccardelli and Chief Hayes, we extend our heartfelt thanks for all of Fatheree’s efforts.

Last month, Trustee Zaccardelli wrote about two characters that rode their dirt bikes at 4:30 a.m. to cut down Flock cameras. These cameras read license plates of vehicles entering Sagamore Hills. This lets the police department know if the vehicle owner has a warrant, is a suspect in crimes in other communities, or if the vehicle is stolen. They DO NOT record speed! Lt. Dan Rice enlisted the help of the following patrol officers: Christopher Danko, Dan DeCrane, Ryan Ennis, Glenn Lucore and Chris Salveter. This old fashion police work led to a plethora of tips which all pointed to one main suspect.

Rice called the main suspect and asked if they wanted to work out a win-win solution for their actions or be charged with a crime. Both suspects decided on a win-win. One suspect was from Northfield Center, and the other was from Sagamore Hills. Alcohol was involved in making a bad decision. They will both pay restitution, which will be a little over $1,000. Rice cautions all to think before you act.

Chief Hayes commends Sgt. Ken Wolf for his efforts to set up active assailant/rescue training. Hayes stated, “We know that active shooters are a real threat that many agencies fail to properly train on. There is a denial that it’s not going to happen here.”

Wolf dedicated many hours to help set up scenarios at two local schools to train at their facilities. The logistics of gaining permission, setting up training dates and organizing civilian employees is not an easy endeavor.  

Wolf and other trainers reached out to a number of agencies to offer this training, and every agency sent officers/ fire fighters to participate. These are exercises that we hope will never be needed. Chief Hayes was very impressed with Wolf’s exemplary work. On behalf of Sagamore Hills Police Department, Hayes has sincere appreciation for all the participants in this field training exercise. ∞