Jackson Twp. gets new police chief

August 22, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

NORTH JACKSON

Jackson Township is to get a new police chief, effective Sept. 1.

Greg Taillon, a longtime Mahoning County sheriff’s deputy and school-resource officer, will take over for Chief Ken Frost, who will retire Aug. 31 after nearly five years at the post.

“I’m a very strong believer in community policing,” Taillon said before his swearing-in ceremony Wednesday at the township administration building on Mahoning Avenue.

The department has 16 part-time, full-time and reserve officers.

In December 1984, Taillon, whose annual salary will be $46,500, began his career as a part-time reserve officer with the sheriff’s department. He also served 14 years as a resource officer with the Jackson-Milton School District.

Taillon noted that safety is his main priority and that he plans to continue building on the department’s programs and improvements that got started under Frost, who is a brother of township Trustee Thomas Frost. Those include a heavy emphasis on community policing and working closely with residents, Taillon said.

During his tenure as the township’s top law-enforcement officer, Frost, who began his career in 1978, implemented a detective division that solved several cold cases, he recalled.

In addition, he started a crime-watch program, developed a closer partnership with the school district and formed a senior-watch program in which officers visit older residents. The chief also has encouraged his officers to conduct security checks at residences when the homeowners were on vacation, he explained.

Before becoming Jackson Township’s chief in November 2008, Frost served about 26 years with the Beaver Township Police Department, having worked through the ranks to detective lieutenant.