Friday, March 27, 2015
BOARDMAN
At a time when police departments and their practices are in the national spotlight, some Boardman residents are expressing support for their police force.
“The past several months, random strangers will come up and say thank you to me, in light of everything that’s going on in the country,” said Patrolman Jeff Lytle as he did his daily school walkthroughs Thursday.
One township resident recently expressed his support by donating thousands of car- bumper magnets as a thank-you to the police and fire departments. The magnets feature police and fire department logos around the phrase “Proud Supporter of Boardman Township Safety Services.”
“He said there’s just not enough appreciation that goes around,” township Trustee Brad Calhoun said of the donor, who wished to remain anonymous.
The resident reportedly encountered township police after they investigated a crime at his house.
“He said people just don’t understand what goes into police work,” Calhoun said, adding that the resident also wanted to recognize other safety services such as the 911 dispatch center and fire department.
Although not all residents express support with this kind of gesture, Police Chief Jack Nichols said the feedback he gets from the community is overwhelmingly positive.
“I deal with complaints, but I get a lot more compliments than I do complaints,” Nichols said. “Usually about what a good job the officers do, [if the resident] was disabled along the side of the road, or in an accident, or they were the victim of the crime, the [officers] were compassionate.”
He said that response has been consistent during his time as chief, and it’s because of an approach to policing he’s encouraged.
“We’ve always been fortunate to have really, really good officers,” he said. “Every situation, it’s important for them to be as positive as possible. There’s always going to be a situation where you have to tell someone no, or arrest them, but ... there’s a lot of opportunity to do good.”
Township resident and Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras publicly thanked the police department at a recent board of trustees meeting for protecting his family after a bomb threat made against him last year.
“I just wanted this board to know that your chief made my family, in my absence, feel very secure,” he said. “You’ve got one hell of a police department, you’ve got one hell of a chief.”
“Too often we take for granted the work that they do every day,” Trustee Larry Moliterno said at the meeting.
Magnets are available at the township government center, the main fire station or by contacting a trustee.