Bazetta becomes first local police agency to adopt new standards

Staff report

COLUMBUS

The Bazetta Township Police Department has become the first Mahoning Valley police department to adopt and implement new state standards recently established by the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, as part of the state’s efforts to strengthen community and police relations.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety made the announcement.

Bazetta is among several law-enforcement agencies that recently met standards for the use of force, including deadly force and agency recruitment and hiring.

The standards are the first of their kind in Ohio and were developed by the 12-member collaborative in August 2015.

The state has partnered with the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police to help certify Ohio’s nearly 1,000 law-enforcement agencies in a process to ensure that they are in compliance with Ohio’s new standards.

Bazetta becomes one of 29 law-enforcement agencies in the state and the first in the Mahoning Valley to have met the standards.