Officials to detail law enforcement improvement

The Lake County commissioners will be joined by the sheriff, area police chiefs and other community leaders Oct. 21 to discuss an initiative to improve law enforcement in the county.

The 1 p.m. news conference will involve a discussion of a new strategy “designed to enhance police documentation to ensure that policies are, among other benefits, in compliance with new legal developments as well as to facilitate better training for officers,” according to a commissioners office news release.

The news released stated that they will put out a bid for funding of the new program. The program will include “up-to-date corrections and law enforcement policies researched and written by public safety attorneys and various subject matter experts.” The release further stated the content of these procedures “will reflect the wishes of the individual departments participating.”

According to the news release, Commissioner John Hamercheck “nurtured and researched the initiative.”

“While this project is subject to final financing, we are confident that we will be able to commit to a five-year subscription for all of Lake County,” Hamercheck said in a statement.

Hamercheck, who is a former law enforcement officer, said the city of Painesville’s police department is already on a program that meets the initiative’s requirements. He said, “we’ve been so impressed by the effectiveness that we concluded that the initiative effort should be an integral part of law enforcement throughout the county.”

Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino said the three commissioners (all Republicans) “are on record against ‘defunding the police.’”

“Not only are we against defunding, we are actually going to be investing in a program that will enhance public safety and we want it available throughout the county,” Cirino said in a statement,

The expected total cost of the program for a fiveyear subscription is more than $1 million, according to the news release. This will include initial start up and training as well as “ongoing updates to stay current.” The bid specifications are expected to go out in the next few weeks.

The commissioners and local law enforcement also worked with other community leaders on the program, according to the news release. Among those is the late Bishop Roderick Coffee of Union Community Church. Coffee died in February.

“Bishop Coffee’s request to see the data is what brought us closer together and allowed me to use my training as a systems analyst to identify data is driven by policies, and policies are driven by controlling law,” Hamercheck said in a statement.

Lake County Branch NA ACP President Deacon Albert Jones said in a statement he has been participating in these types of conversations for a long time now “as my interest is in keeping our community safe and to do everything we can to make sure our policing is the very best and that negative encounters with the police are minimized.”

Jones said he applauds the commissioners not only saying they want a safe community for all, but “actually doing something about it.”

“... as my interest is in keeping our community safe and to do everything we can to make sure our policing is the very best and that negative encounters with the police are minimized.” — Lake County Branch NAACP President Deacon Albert Jones