Police substation opens in Mecca

The substation will allow deputies to spend more time on patrol duty, the sheriff says.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

MECCA — Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere opened a police substation in Mecca Township on Thursday to serve the northern townships.

“This is the best thing that has happened to northern Trumbull County,” Mecca Township Trustee Bill Harrison said of the facility.

The station is located inside the Mecca Volunteer Fire Department at state Routes 46 and 88 at Mecca Center.

Blake Peterson, trustee chairman in Mecca, said the substation will more than pay for itself in lower police transportation costs.

Altiere said 12 patrols will work out of the substation. It has a high-speed Internet computer connection linked to the sheriff’s network in Warren and a machine to test blood-alcohol levels.

The sheriff explained that if a drunken driver is arrested, the driver’s blood alcohol can be tested at the substation rather than driving to the sheriff’s department to perform the test.

The driver then receives the citation and can be released with a summons to appear in court. The deputy can write the report at the substation and send it to the sheriff’s office.

Altiere said the Ohio State Highway Patrol can also use the testing equipment rather than traveling to the patrol’s Southington Township post.

The facility, the sheriff explained, will enable deputies to spend more time on patrol rather than driving to downtown Warren to file their reports.

The sheriff denied that opening the substation so close to the Democratic primary is politically motivated to draw votes from northern county voters.

He said trustees made the space available and the installation of the high-speed Internet allowed for the opening.

Peterson pointed out that there are no utility costs at the substation because the township’s fire station is lighted and heated.

Mecca Township has a 0.5-mill police levy that generates about $18,000 annually, which is not enough to hire an officer. Thus, the money is used on a contract basis to patrol the township by the sheriff, Peterson explained.

Patrols are needed, he added, because Mecca has three taverns and Mosquito Lake draws a lot of people for recreation during the summer.

yovich@vindy.com