Austintown trustees authorize hiring of new police officer

AUSTINTOWN — Township trustees have authorized hiring a new police officer, and the police department is taking applications through December, said Lt. Bryan Kloss.

Kloss said the hiring will bring the department to 40 members, including the chief and six detectives.

The department has been using a levy passed in 2006 to hire officers and to buy new police cruisers.

Kloss said that another officer is especially needed now. One officer has left to serve in Afghanistan, and another, officer Ross Linert, will be off work for an extensive period of time recovering from burns suffered in a car accident in November.

Officers start in Austintown at $20.88 an hour, or $43,000 a year, Kloss said.

Applicants have to be certified through Ohio Police Officers Training Academy and must pass physical, psychological and written tests, he said.