User:Ashley3840J/Solon Police Department

The Solon Police Department (SPD) consists of men and women whose job is to serve and protect the City of Solon. The station is located right off of Solon Road, and is open 24/7. The mission of the Solon Police Department is to achieve excellence in service, protection, and enforcement; and to preserve the peace of the community through dedication to professionalism, integrity, proficiency, and education. The department consists of 110 staff members. The station has several services that are broken into 8 different departments. Each department each handles responsibilities that are different than the other departments. .

History
On December 24, 1825 Solon Township was founded, and Harvey Carver became the first Constable.This was the first form of law enforcement the township used. Some time later, on February 23, 1927, Marshall Edward C. Clark was sworn in as Marshall. He remained as Marshall until 1937. It was not until 1928 that the village made a purchase for a police car used for patrolling the roads of the village. Once Clark had left, John Vondracek was named “Chief of Police” on May 17, 1939.

There was no official police station in Solon at this time. In order to serve the city a dispatcher would receive emergency calls from home, then send them to the Maple Hts. Police who, in turn, sent them to Chief Vondracek. The village would get charged 25 cents each time this system was used. Since there was no formal station, they kept the men they apprehended at the Cuyahoga County Jail.

The first Solon Police Department built in 1955 was located on the corner of SOM Center Road and Bainbridge Road. The police station used to be the fire station, which later was relocated. They then moved them to the 1 jail cell room located in the station. They expanded the station to include 4 jail cells and a bullpen (a large room for holding several prisoners).In 1995 changes were made to the station. They tore down the current station and built a new department on Solon Road. In 1997 it became operational with 14 jail cells and 2 dormitories, which are large cells that hold more than one person.

During the 1950’s the station only consisted of a Chief of Police, one Lieutenant, one Sergeant, and four Patrolmen. They were only paid $2.25 per hour and worked 48 hours a week. By the 1970’s the department grew tremendously. Solon now had 27 officers and along with that they also implemented a motorcycle force of two men in 1973. These men were a part of D.A.L.E, which was a federal drug task force. In the 1980’s the station had doubled its man power to 40. The police department was now also supported by 7 dispatchers, 4 records personnel, an Animal Warden, a building manager, and 22 auxiliary policemen.

During the 90’s the station added even more personnel to their staff. In 1990 the Fist D.A.R.E officer was Officer Joe Cabot. In 1993 and in 1996 they also established the first K-9 Unit and Bike Patrol for the city. Finally in 2000 the first female officer, Tina Austin was employed.

Departments
There are 7 different subunits associated with the SPD. They are Animal Control, D.A.R.E, The Detective Bureau, Patrol, Communications, the jail, and Record Violations. Animal Control handles the wildlife problems that happen in the City of Solon. When there is a complaint about an animal in the area they are the ones who help eliminate any problems. They are also the ones who help with the deer management plan for all of the surrounding cities. D.A.R.E is a program that is used to educate children on drug safety, drug resistance, and prevention of violence. The Detective Bureau investigates crimes that have been committed. There are currently 5 detectives on staff. Also, the station utilizes the Youth Bureau from Cuyahoga County. The jail used at Solon is a detention facility that holds the offenders that break the law. They currently can hold a capacity of 26 people. The Patrol unit of the station consists of 46 officers plus the K-9 Unit, who operates in cars and bikes, and cover 20 square miles of the city. Their duties are: investigation of accidents, enforcing traffic law, apprehension of criminal suspects, delivery of miscellaneous services to the community, preservation of the peace, protection of life and property, prevention of delinquency, repression of crime, and traffic direction and control. The Auxiliary Police are also a part of the Patrol unit, and they handle City Hall security, park detail, parades and school crossings. The Department communication Center consists of trained dispatchers. Their jobs are to answer all calls, and to prioritize and obtain information from those calls. They dispatch calls to the Solon Police Department, Solon Fire Station, and also Glenwillow Police. The Record Violations is the final department of SPD. This subunit holds all the information history on a crime.

Organizational Structure
The department has a twofold structure meaning there are two main branches who have control. The first part of the twofold structure is the line structure. Which simply means who reports to who. The second is the staff structure which is who is responsible for what functions. The head of the department is the Chief of Police, who is in charge of government and labor relations, and acts as an intradepartmental mediator. Next in line are the four lieutenants who are in charge of staff services, line operation services, community, and support services. Following them comes the sergeants who are in charge of the scheduled officers on duty, the sworn officers, dispatchers, and the rest of the staff. .

Personnel
Solon Police Department has 110 staff members currently working at the station. There are 46 sworn law enforcement officers.They also have a staff of 14 dispatchers who work both part and full time. There are 16 correction officers whose duties are to maintain the jail of the station. The station also has 8 office staff, 1 animal warden and maintenance person, 19 Auxiliary police, and 6 school guards.

Line of Duty Deaths
Since the founding of the station there has only been two line of duty deaths. The first was Marshall Otto Jirecek. On March 31, 1939 his vehcile was struck from behind then caught on fire while Jirecek was still in the car. The second death occured on March 15, 1989. Patrol Officer Jeffery Olson died from a car crash during the pursuit of another vechile who had violated traffic laws.

Awards
The station was given several awards during the previous year.

In 2011 the Department received two awards from the American Automobile Association. The first was a Community Safety Award. This honor was given for having four consecutive years without a traffic related fatality. They also received The Platinum Award which was given to them based on the department’s excellent leadership and education traffic safety.

The Solon Police Department also received 12,000 dollars in funding from the Cuyahoga OVI Task Force due to the stations exceptional OVI enforcement and education. .

Collaborations
The Solon Police Department is currently is a member of S.E.A.L.E (South East Area Law Enforcement).There are currently 7 cities in this program that operate undercover drug operations. These cities share resources and equipment that they individually could not sustain. These municipalities all use members of their staff to comprise a task force for SWAT, Bomb Squad, Hostage Negotiation, Communications, Child Abuse Response and Rescue Medics. The police department also works with The Cuyahoga County OVI Task Force which sets up OVI check points to help with the prevention of drunk driving. These check points search for drunk drivers, open containers, one who is driving while having a suspended license, and people who are wanted. SPD collaborated with Ohio Department of Public Safety to help with educating young children on the importance of safe seat belt usage and earned the department four dollars for each student that was in attendance. .

Equipment
All sworn employees are qualified to use Glock, Model 22 primary duty sidearms, Remington 870 primary duty shotguns, and Colt AR-15 primary duty tactical rifles.

There are several vehicles used by the station. The patrol officers drive twelve 2009 Dodge Chargers and the sergeants on duty drive three 2009 Chevy Tahoe’s. The station also has one 2009 Chrysler 300 used by the detectives and one D.A.R.E vehicle which is a 2007 Chevy Tahoe. The K-9 officer drives a 2009 Dodge Magnum. There are also 4 detective sedans and one van truck used for maintenance. These cars are all equipped with cruiser mounted video cameras plus all the patrol officers wear body cameras as well.

The station also owns a BAC device, a lie detection device, and eight police equipped mountain bicycles. .