Remembering former Youngstown chief Donald Baker

YOUNGSTOWN

A former officer who served when Donald G. Baker was police chief in the 1970s said Baker always knew what was going on.

Lou Ciavarella, who was on the force for more than 30 years as a patrolman and a crime-lab officer, said Baker constantly listened to the police scanner, and whenever something important happened, no matter the time of day – or night – there was sure to follow an inquiry asking someone to contact him.

“It seemed like he was always – and I mean always – listening to the police radio,” said Ciavarella, now part of the security contingent at City Hall and the municipal court. “Nothing that was out of order could happen that he didn’t respond to immediately.”

Baker died Saturday at the age of 87 in an Austintown nursing home.

He worked his way through the ranks as a detective, lieutenant, captain and deputy chief before Mayor Jack Hunter appointed him chief in 1970. He served as chief for seven years and retired in 1981.

Vindicator files are full of his time on the job.

Read more about him in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.