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Government Center
7593 Bunnell Hill Road
Springboro, OH 45066
Warren County |
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On May 24, 1974 approximately fifteen families residing in Clearcreek Township,
Warren County, attended a meeting of the Clearcreek Township Board of Trustees
to discuss the possibility of organizing a local police department. This was in
part due to there having occurred a rash of burglaries in their neighborhoods,
and the response time of the Warren County Sheriff’s Office was, in their
opinion, too long. They felt that the unincorporated Township was insufficiently
protected.
A special public meeting was held July 16, 1974 at the Clearcreek Elementary
School. After lengthy discussion, the Board of Trustees requested a ‘show of
hands’ for support of a tax levy to support a police department. With a large
majority in favor, the Board of Trustees decided to act on this in the future,
which eventually led to their approval of a resolution on July 18, 1975 to
create a Clearcreek Township Police District. On August 1, 1975 they accepted
applications for Chief of Police and Police Officers, and agreed to advertise
for a police vehicle.
Then on September 15, 1975 William M. Duckro was appointed the first Chief of
Police for Clearcreek Township. However, in February 1976 Chief Duckro tendered
his resignation. During the next few months Sergeant William Johnson acted as
Chief of Operations. These first years were difficult in that Police Officers
routinely were hired and soon resigned to work elsewhere in the police service.
On July 2, 1976 James Everett Manning, who had been Assistant Chief of the
Springboro Police Department, became the second Chief of Police for the
Clearcreek Township Police Department. He assumed the task of getting an
operating tax levy passed by the voters. Chief Manning hired several Police
Officers via funding from the federal Concentrated Education and Training Act
(CETA Program). He remained Chief until January 1987 at which time he retired.
On January 2, 1987 Charles Robert Dimmitt, from the Warren County Sheriff’s
Office, became the third Chief of Police. The original tax levy had failed to
gain voter approval. In late 1987, the Township’s financial situation forced the
decision to abolish the police dispatching section. An annual contract for
dispatching was effected in February 1988 with the City of Springboro’s
Communications Center.
In August 1988 the Board of Trustees passed a resolution for another police tax
levy. It twice failed voter approval before being passed in 1989. During this
period, at times the Clearcreek Township Police Department consisted only of
Chief Dimmitt and Sergeant Jerry L. Thomes who both worked many hours, being
relieved only when part-time officers were available. However, soon after
passage of the tax levy the police department was able to fill vacant positions,
create a rank of Lieutenant, purchase needed equipment, and expand the vehicle
fleet to eight automobiles.
In 1992, our Police Officers were appointed as Constables, which carries the
authority of a Deputy Sheriff within Warren County. Chief Dimmitt was primarily
responsible for the Clearcreek Township Police Department being nationally
accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies in
1996, being at that time the smallest police department in the nation to achieve
CALEA accreditation. After ten years as Chief of Police and serving the
residence of Clearcreek Township, Chief Robert Dimmitt retired in March 1997.
The Board of Trustees named Lieutenant Stephen C. Boster as Acting Chief of
Police until a new Chief could be appointed.
On January 18, 1998, Walter F. McAlpin, Jr., a retired Assistant Chief for the
Cincinnati Police Division, was appointed by the Board of Trustees as Chief of
Police for the Clearcreek Township Police Department. In November 1998 the
public narrowly voted to reject a police tax levy that would have provided
additional monies for organizational needs and expansion. Officers struggled
with feelings of being rejected by the community they served with utmost
dedication. In May of 1998, Sergeant Jerold L. Thomes passed away following
surgery.
In June 1999, Chief Walter F. McAlpin Jr. resigned as Chief of Police, citing
personal reasons, and secured a position in the private sector. The Board of
Trustees named Lieutenant Boster Acting Chief of Police. In July, Lt. Stephen C.
Boster submitted his letter of resignation to the Board of Trustees. Lt. Boster
accepted the position of Director of the Law Enforcement Program at the Warren
County Career Center.
In April 1999, Police Officer Anthony A. Scott was promoted to the rank of
Sergeant. Being the sole remaining employee holding a supervisory position, he
was appointed to the position of Acting Chief of Operations after the departure
of Lieutenant Boster. In September Chief of Operations Anthony A. Scott resigned
citing personal reasons. In addition to the absence of Supervisory and Command
level staff, the Police Department further declined in personnel because of
officers being injured and accepting positions with other police agencies.
The Board of Trustees decided to place a single issue on the August 3 ballot.
The Board faced a so-called doomsday situation for the police department. If the
scaled down levy was not approved by voters a second time, the decision to cease
police operations or contract with an outside agency had to be seriously
considered. The unfortunate outcome: voters failed to approve this second police
tax levy.
After its defeat, the Board of Trustees and Clearcreek Township Administration –
knowing the need for stable leadership – on September 23, 1999 contracted with
Peter J. Herdt to serve as Interim Chief of Police for six months at which time
a permanent Chief would be appointed. Chief Herdt had prior experience as Police
Chief at four other police agencies. And as a last chance effort, the Trustees
placed the police levy on the November ballot. Fortunately, the voters returned
to the polls and approved a third levy, albeit scaled down. This certainly
proved to be a pronounced boost to the overall morale of police department
personnel.
In December 1999, following a comprehensive promotional process, Police Officers
Jeffrey L. Piper and William E. Fritz were promoted to the rank of Sergeant to
assume some leadership responsibilities. Three part-time Police Officers were
chosen to be career full-time Police Officers. By February, all full-time
positions were filled except for Lieutenant, remaining vacant until after a
permanent Police Chief was appointed.
Chief Herdt’s contract was scheduled to expire March 23, 2000 but since the
selection process for a permanent Chief of Police had not yet concluded, the
Board of Trustees extended his Interim Chief of Police position. Then upon
conclusion of the comprehensive and challenging selection process, Herdt was
chosen to be the ‘permanent’ Chief of Police, appointed on May 4, 2000.
The vacant Lieutenant position was filled in December 2000 after completion of a
rigorous selection process by the appointment of Mark J. Duvelius, a Sergeant
and 23-year Warren County Sheriff’s Office veteran.
Throughout years 2000 – 2002, the Clearcreek Township Police Department
continued its focus on rebuilding and restructuring to restore and enhance its
standard of professionalism, coupled with more emphasis on community oriented
policing and problem-solving (COPPS) and specialized in-service training &
education for all its personnel. As an example, in October 2002 an additional
full-time Police Officer was provided, funded within the confines of the
existing tax levies. This brought the number of full-time commissioned officers
to twelve, consisting of a Chief, a Lieutenant, two Sergeants, and eight Police
Officers.
On July 10, 2003 the Board of Trustees released Peter J. Herdt from his duties
as Chief of Police. The Board of Trustees named Assistant Administrator / Safety
Director Ronald L. Wilhelm as Acting Chief of Police during this transition. On
August 25th Lieutenant Mark J. Duvelius resigned to take employment with the
Warren County Prosecutor’s Office. The vacancies resulted in an immediate need
for additional police officers and supervision. A comprehensive testing and
evaluation process was completed to promote one police officer to the rank of
Sergeant. Curtis O. Hensley was selected as the new Sergeant and promoted on
October 30th, 2003.
After a comprehensive selection process, Sergeant Jeffrey L. Piper was promoted
to the rank of Chief of Police on July 8, 2004. Chief Piper has been a member of
the Clearcreek Township Police Department since 1992 and has served in various
roles such as; Police Officer, Evidence Technician, and Police Sergeant.
In the first half of 2005, processes for a vacancy for one Police Sergeant and
three Full-Time Police Officers were begun. At their conclusion, Police Officer
Jason L. Bates was promoted to Sergeant. Part-time Officers Angela K. Roberts,
Kevin R. McGuire, and Thomas A. Majercak were selected to fill the three vacant
Full-Time Police Officer positions.
In July of 2007 Chief Jeffery Piper resigned from the position of Chief of
Police to begin a teaching career with the Warren County Career Center where he
was named Director of Law Enforcement Training. Chief Piper left the department
in August 2007 completing 15 years of service with the department.
On July 5th, 2007 John D. Terrill was sworn in as the new Chief of Police for
Clearcreek Township. Chief Terrill had been involved with Clearcreek Township
for many years as the townships Polygraph Operator assisting in the hiring of
many of the Police, Fire and administrative personnel. At the time of his
appointment Chief Terrill was in the process of completing his 25th year of
service with the Middletown Police Department, retiring from there as a
Sergeant. Chief Terrill had served previously in Warren County as a police
officer with Kings Island Park Police in 1980-81 before going to Middletown PD.
Chief Terrill served in various roles with the Middletown Police Department such
as; Narcotics, Special Operations, Investigations-Detectives, Polygraph,
Evidence Tech., Patrol, Patrol Supervisor, Property room and Warrant Division
supervisor and Jail Administrator.
During Chief Terrill’s transition to Chief a competitive examination was given
for the selection of three Police Sergeants and additional patrol officers.
Wallace E. Stacy placed first in the testing process was selected and hired as a
Police Sergeant on Oct. 1st, 2007. Sgt. Stacy was employed by Middletown Police
at the time of his appointed as a Police Sergeant. Sgt. Stacy had previously
served with King Island Park Police, Middletown Police Dept., Mason Police Dept.
and Loveland Police Department. Steven A. Reynolds was also promoted on Oct.
1st, 2007 as Police Sergeant. Sgt. Reynolds was an internal candidate and had
been employed by Clearcreek Township Police since Feb. 2000. Sgt. Reynolds had
previously been employed by the Village of Maineville, United States Air Force
and Warren County Dog Wardens office. On April 24th, 2008 the final police
sergeant was promoted internally from the active list being Larry B. Cornett.
Sgt. Cornett has been with Clearcreek Township Police since 1999. Sgt. Cornett
had previously served with Clearcreek Township Police as a part time police
officer before promoting to fulltime officer in 1999. He had also previously
served at Kings Island Security as a part time officer. Five police officers
were hired to begin filling 8 vacancies. Dan Morgan, Eric Ney, Kevin Barton
(Kevin had previous part time employment with Hamilton Twsp. Police Dept.), John
Gleeson (John had previous part time employment with Hamilton Twsp. Police Dept.
and was also a Deputy Sheriff in New York State) and Nicole Cordero were hired
to fill those vacancies. |
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