The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Council may add up to 15 officers
Another 10 or 15 patrol officers would allow the department to become proactive combatting a surge in crimes in the city, Lorain Police Chief James McCann said.
Lorain City Council endorsed the proposal 8-0, although two council members said that plan does not go far enough to keep Lorainites safe.
Meanwhile, Lorain Auditor Karen Shawver sounded a budgetary alarm because the city will have to pay for police when federal economic aid dries up in coming years.
On Sept. 13, a Lorain City Council Police, Fire and Legislative Committee met with all council to discuss police staffing issues.
Ward 4 Councilman Greg Argenti, committee chairman, presided over more than an hour of discussion of historic, statistical, anecdotal and financial information about the police.
“I feel confident in saying that we all believe that the safety and wellbeing of our citizens is job one, bearing in mind that the safety and wellbeing of responding officers is of equal importance,” Argenti said. For the fiscally conservative in the group, there’s an economic perspective involved also.”
Argenti said, “People are now coming to Lorain to live, work and play. If there is a sense that our streets are not safe, these same people will stop coming here and we will suffer the economic repercussions.”
Coming soon
Mayor Jack Bradley and his administration have endorsed a plan to use federal American Rescue Plan Act money to hire 10 new officers, McCann said.
That would staff an 18-officer street crimes unit separate from the uniformed road patrol. In the past, the street crimes unit was effective nabbing violent offenders and guns, McCann said.
But once police made significant investigations and arrests, duties shifted and the department did not sustain the unit, he said.
Meanwhile, merging communications officers with the Lorain County 911 dispatch could free up money to hire five more city patrolmen and women, McCann said.
Lorain has about 104 police right now and officers answer all calls, sometimes with delayed responses due to the number of calls, the chief said.
If the department does not grow, calls such as loud noise complaints, premise checks, personal welfare checks and car lockouts will disappear because there are not enough officers to be proactive, McCann said.
“These calls here will end up disappearing, we will no longer respond to them,” he said. “If you want us to be proactive, we’ve got to adjust something so we need manpower or we adjust the calls coming in. There’s no two ways of doing it. We either change what we’re doing internally or we get more people, that’s the bottom line.”
Crime up
Sgt. Eric Manicsic offered statistics showing crimes are up in Lorain this year, compared to the first nine months of 2019 and 2020.
That includes homicides: Lorain had three at this time in 2019, four last year and 11 so far in 2021, with another two awaiting rulings.
Council also heard remarks from Kyle Gelenius president of Lorain Fraternal Order of Police Lake Erie Lodge No. 3. He covered a range of issues and noted Lorain’s 12.5-hour shifts and longevity pay are attracting new officers.
The police officers noted rising crime rates are a national problem, not just a Lorain one. They said legal changes in Ohio now require police to call judges to jail suspects, meaning police end up citing and releasing more suspects, and suspects know that too.
Council reacts
Argenti and council members Beth Henley of Ward 1, Rob McFarland of Ward 2, Pamela Carter of Ward 3, Cory Shawver of Ward 7, Joshua Thornsberry of Ward 8, and Mary Springowski, Tony Dimacchia and Mitch Fallis, atlarge, and Council President Joel Arredondo, generally agreed with the chief’s plan to add officers.
Springowski and Dimacchia called for more and the council members had multiple questions about the department and crime in the city for McCann.
Henley asked if there is a standard to determine an appropriate staffing level, but there is not, McCann said.
Adding police does not automatically reduce the crime rate, Bradley said. Youngstown has 135 officers and 22 homicides this year, he said.
Thornsberry suggested his fellows schedule some ride-alongs with officers, an experience he said was eye-opening.
Council will have financial decisions ahead because the Sewer and Water Advisory Board is preparing a recommendation for Lorain to use its federal American Rescue Plan aid to help keep water and sewer rates down, Thornsberry said.
If a street crimes unit is successful, Bradley said police and the city leaders would have to formulate a levy to keep officers when the federal aid ends.
As the mother of a Lorain police officer, Karen Shawver voiced her support for the department.
But the city administration presented and council approved the police longevity pay without a financial analysis of the cost and that will take more money in the future, she said.
Adding 10 officers could be another $1 million in the city budget, Karen Shawver said. Last year and this year, Lorain would have had a budget deficit but for the American Rescue Plan Act and federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, Karen Shawver said.