Ohio Awards Recertification to 11 Agencies for Adopting Collaborative Board’s Standards

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – The Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services announced today the recertification of 11 Ohio law enforcement agencies for state standards established by the Ohio Collaborative Community-police Advisory Board.

The agencies completed the recertification process after initially adopting and implementing the initial two standards regarding use of force and hiring and recruitment. Recertification takes place on a revolving, three to four-year cycle.

Overall, there are 592 certified agencies that have met the initial standards. Additionally, 29,453 officers (representing over 86.87% of all law enforcement officers in Ohio, including most of Ohio’s metropolitan areas) are employed by an agency that is involved in some form of the certification process.

The list of recently recertified agencies include:

• Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Police Department (Hamilton)

• Copley Township Police Department (Summit)

• Cuyahoga Community College Campus Police and Security Services (Cuyahoga)

• Defiance Police Department (Defiance)

• Hiram Police Department (Portage)

• North Royalton Police Department (Cuyahoga)

• Oberlin Police Department

(Lorain)

• State Fire Marshal and Explosion Investigations Bureau (Licking)

• Valley View Police Department (Cuyahoga)

• West Milton Police Department (Miami)

• Youngstown Police Department (Mahoning)

The Collaborative was formed in 2015 to create uniform minimum standards for Ohio’s law enforcement agencies. The first two standards were developed by the Collaborative in 2015 to improve the trust between citizens and law enforcement officers.

Additional standards established by the Collaborative address community engagement, bias-free policing, bodyworn cameras, vehicular pursuits, telecommunicator training, employee misconduct, mass protests, agency wellness, and interaction with minors. The standards are the first of their kind in Ohio and were developed and established by the Collaborative as part of the state’s efforts to strengthen community and police relations.

The state has partnered with the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police to help certify Ohio’s nearly 900 law enforcement agencies on a process to ensure that they are in compliance with Ohio’s standards. The complete list of agencies who have and have not been certified can be found at by accessing the Collaborative website.