New Liberty chief ushers in change

By John w. Goodwin jr.

The changes include the addition of canine and reserve units.

LIBERTY — There are changes coming to the township police department.

Trustees last week installed former Capt. Richard Tisone as police chief. With that installation comes a list of changes implemented by Tisone that will give the department an aesthetic and physical overhaul.

What are likely to be the most immediately visible changes in the department are upgrades made to the 911 control room inside the government building.

The room has been completely expanded, renovated and now has new equipment, including monitors that keep watch over all township property and rooms in the police department.

Sgt. Bob Greaf said the renovations to the control room are valued at about $40,000, but the work cost the department only a fraction of that amount. Officers spent evenings completing the work in-house for less than $10,000.

“This is something we needed and did not have a great big budget to do it, so a lot of us just pitched in on weekends, and the money we saved we used to buy some needed equipment,” Greaf said.

Tisone said the improved control room is needed because, with equipment upgrades, the department had simply outgrown the space.

Another visible change will likely be the addition of a canine unit. “A canine unit is something I definitely want to do,” Tisone said. “What those dogs do as far as tracking, drug detection and missing persons is invaluable.”

Tisone said Officer Ray Buhala has been selected to handle the coming police dog. He and Buhala will be meeting with a representative from a company specializing in the sale of police dogs next week.

There also will be more than one officer riding in some township cruisers on routine patrol.

Tisone plans to implement a reserve unit where reserve officers can work in all facets of police work here, without pay or the ability to drive township cruisers. The reserve unit will give township officers additional help and allow those in the unit to gain much-needed experience.

“This will be free training for [the reserve officers] in exchange for their time invested in the department and will be of the least cost of all the things we are looking to do,” the chief said.

The chief also is planning to open a township-operated tow yard. He said the department would continue to use the same tow companies currently being used to pick up vehicles, but those vehicles would be stored in a township lot.

A tow yard or holding yard for vehicles, Tisone said, has the potential to generate a substantial amount of revenue for the township.

“Instead of losing storage fees, we would gain that income. We also would gain income from any cars that are left abandoned. We tow a lot of vehicles,” he added.

One thing residents will not be seeing is officers’ taking cruisers home in the evening and at the end of each shift. That program ended in October and resulted in considerable savings to the township.

Tisone said ending the take-home program has meant a drop in the cost of maintenance and vehicle upkeep. He said the overall fuel savings could top $10,000 annually.

jgoodwin@vindy.com