BOARDMAN 3 officers to retire by end of October

BOARDMAN -- Three police detectives who have each served more than 20 years on the township force plan to retire.
Lt. Robert C. Rupp, a 32-year veteran, will retire effective Oct. 31. He was appointed to the force in July 1969 and assigned to plain-clothes investigations two years later. The Youngstown native is a 1959 graduate of South High School who previously worked for American Ambulance and Burns Detective Agency.
Lt. George H. Statler, a 30-year-veteran, retires effective Oct. 5. He has served since February 1971, and received the 1975 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award. He was instrumental in establishing the department's canine (K-9) program and served as the first commander of the Mahoning Valley Drug Task Force. In recent years he has served on a federal Drug Enforcement Administration task force.
A Youngstown native, Statler is a 1966 graduate of Wilson High School, who had served in the military as a K-9 trainer and weapons specialist and also served in the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department.
Lt. Joseph P. Speziale, a 24-year-veteran, will retire effective Sept. 27. He is a specialist in auto theft investigations and has served on the board of the state Auto Theft Investigators Association. He also has been assigned to two organized crime task forces, serving as assistant director to one.
He received the 2001 Mahoning Valley Chiefs of Police award for investigative excellence.
The Youngstown native is a 1966 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School and a 1971 graduate of Ohio University with a journalism degree. He was appointed to the force in January 1977.