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New police chief seeks to speed up response time
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Charles Sammarone, left, made two of the biggest decisions since becoming Youngstown mayor on Aug. 1. He selected Atty. Anthony Farris, center, a 15-year city employee, as law director, and Rod Foley, a 20-year police veteran, as chief of that department.
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Capt. Rod Foley, left, will be Youngstown’s next police chief, while Atty. Anthony Farris will be promoted from deputy law director to law director. Both appointments, made by Mayor Charles Sammarone, are effective Sept. 1.
YOUNGSTOWN
Despite a 23-percent decline in the number of officers since 2007, the incoming police chief wants to improve response time for nonemergency calls and be “more visible in the community.”
Capt. Rod Foley, the chief of detectives, will succeed Chief Jimmy Hughes as chief Sept. 1.
“We [have] a lot of concerns about our response times for minor issues,” Foley said Wednesday at a press conference to introduce him as the incoming chief and Anthony Farris, deputy law director, as the new law director, also effective Sept. 1.
“Sometimes people wait five or six hours” for officers to respond to minor crimes, Foley said.
The incoming chief said he’ll look at having officers take minor-crime reports over the telephone. Foley also wants to restructure the department, but declined to give specifics Wednesday.
There are 144 officers in the department, Foley said. Since 2007, 43 officers have left the department, he said.
The city is looking to hire a few officers sometime this year, but the exact number and time-frame for hiring hasn’t been finalized.
City officials say declining finances makes it difficult to add more officers to the force.
Current officers working overtime is “taking its toll” as they can get tired with the additional hours, Foley said.
“Officers are struggling out there. and we want to bring them some relief,” he said.
But Foley also said Wednesday that he wants more officers in the neighborhoods on patrol as a way to curb crime and provide a law-enforcement presence. Foley, 46, of Boardman, has been with the Youngstown Police Department since 1991.
Though 12 people applied to be chief, Mayor Charles Sammarone said he interviewed only Foley.
“Rod’s r sum was the first one I looked at, and what jumped out at me was his experience,” said Sammarone, mayor since Aug. 1.
Sammarone interviewed Foley and said after that there was no reason to speak to the other candidates.
The mayor said he wanted the chief to be someone who had several years left at the department and not someone who is retired or is nearing retirement.
“If I was going to hire someone who’s retired, I would have rehired Jimmy Hughes,” Sammarone said.
When asked about Foley, Hughes, whose last day on the job is next Wednesday, repeatedly said he had no comment, except to say, “I have nothing negative to say about anyone.”
Meanwhile, Sammarone appointed Farris, 44, of Youngstown, who has worked in the city law department for 15 years, to succeed outgoing Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello.
Sammarone praised Farris for doing a “very good job.”
“I think he’ll work well with the mayor and council,” Guglucello said of Farris. “I think he has the skills to do the job.”
Next Wednesday is Guglucello’s last day as law director.
Also, council members Nate Pinkard, D-3rd; Janet Tarpley, D-6th; and John R. Swierz, D-7th, who attended Wednesday’s press conference, praised Sammarone’s decisions to promote Farris and Foley.
Rose Carter, executive director of the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods [ACTION], said she was “excited about the appointments.”
ACTION is a local faith-based organization focused on raising awareness and seeking solutions to overcome poverty, racism and social injustice.