Police to spend time with residents

Only uniformed officers in marked cars will make the visits.

By MARY GRZEBIENIAK

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

NEW SPRINGFIELD — Residents should not be alarmed if they see a police officer at their door sometime over the next few months.

Springfield Township Police Chief Matthew Mohn told trustees he has begun a community policing program in which officers introduce themselves to residents and ask about their concerns.

He said the goal is to cover the whole township. Police will make three attempts to contact a resident.

The visits always will be made by a uniformed officer in a marked car and take place between 9 a.m. and dusk.

Mohn also announced that two businesses — Controlled Manufacturing Systems, New Middletown, and Snyder Antiques, New Springfield — have each donated $2,610 for purchase of Tasers for the police department.

Trustees agreed to buy four Tasers and related equipment for $5,877. A Taser is an electroshock weapon used by police to stun belligerent or potentially dangerous subjects during an arrest.

Trustees also received a letter signed by more than 20 Petersburg residents thanking the fire department for its work to keep access open to homes during recent construction there.

Firefighter Chuck Gossard was singled out for coming every day after work to measure the access lanes to make sure they were wide enough for emergency vehicles.

Trustees also handled these matters:

UAgreed to pay Stitle Construction, Salem, up to $10,000 for work on windows and doors at Station 23.

UAgreed to pay Joe Crammer Heating & Cooling, Poland, $11,000 to replace furnaces at the EMS Bay and Fire Station 23 and for heating improvements at Station 21. They also will pay Crammer up to $1,200 for furnace checks, repairs and maintenance at the fire stations.

UAuthorized paying Fire Force, Boardman, up to $24,000 for equipment for the new fire engine and Warren Fire Equipment up to $3,000 for annual air pack and other fire equipment testing and repairs.