Circleville hired a retired Ohio State Highway patrolman to review the police department's policies, training structure and figure out how to rebuild after a tumultuous year that saw the leadership team crumble after controversy.
The Circleville City Council voted Monday to hire retired OSHP Colonel Paul Pride to lead this review. The city also introduced its newly sworn in Safety Director Rob Ware, who will work alongside Pride.
This comes as the city prepares to vote on a 0.4% replacement levy for Circleville's safety services on this fall's ballot. A similar levy failed to pass earlier this year.
Circleville Police Department review aims to 'rebuild' agency
Council President Barry Keller on Tuesday said multiple council members contacted him about council taking the lead to bring in an outside resource to help review the department's policies, training structure and how to begin the rebuilding process for a better police department for its employees, the public and the community. Keller said they interviewed several candidates.
"It was nothing about reliving the past. The past is behind us. It's about going forward, about the future and rebuilding," Keller said.
Since July of last year, Circleville's police department saw its police chief, deputy chief and most recently an acting deputy chief come under review. The city accepted resignations from Police Chief Shawn Baer and Deputy Chief Doug Davis after the two had allegations of misconduct and harassment levied against them.
It was alleged Davis assaulted Mayor Michelle Blanton.
Blanton also hired, then quickly fired, former safety director Steve Wilkinson. Wilkinson then alleged at a council meeting he wanted to fix the issues at the police department before levying allegations against Davis after he was fired one week into the new job.
Wilkinson alleged he was sworn in in secret. Ware's swearing in ceremony was open to the public on Monday.
This all happened after former Circleville officer Ryan Speakman ordered his K-9 to attack a man in July of last year after Ohio State Highway Patrol officers had pulled over and the man was already surrendering to police. Circleville fired Speakman and awarded Jadarrius Rose, the man who was attacked, with a settlement to avoid a lawsuit.
Last week, Circleville's acting Deputy Chief Jon Farrelly was placed on administrative leave for allegedly trying to solicit sex from a citizen while he was in uniform.
The city is still actively looking for a new permanent police chief. Keller said the city is considering outside applicants.
Keller also discussed this review and hiring at a meeting earlier this month of Circleville's Committee of the Whole.
Keller said himself, the mayor, the law director and two other councilmembers made up the team that selected Pride. The city will pay him 40 hours a week at $85 an hour for at least 45 days.
There are about 80 days left until the election.
Keller said after that timeline, Pride will be required to give initial feedback to the city about what comes next. Keller said the review and its results will be a transparent process.
"Mr. Pride is a law enforcement expert that the police department, the administration, city council, city and county agencies and the public should welcome to help the rebuilding of the police department. Mr. Pride will produce an initial report and recommendations, which will all be public information," Keller said.
Council member Katie Hedges, who was part of the team who selected Pride, said during the committee meeting that the city hiring Pride is a critical component to pass this fall's levy.
"As we are asking the citizens to support the levy, I think this is another critical component that we make sure that they know that we, as a collaborative, united front, are doing everything we can to provide all safety forces, all the potential help and support that they may need to move forward, in the best possible direction," Hedges said.
New Safety Director Rob Ware sworn in
Ware comes in as the new safety director after months of Blanton being both mayor and acting safety director. Ware is a former police chief, having served in that role in the communities of Worthington and Portsmouth. He also served on the executive board of the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police.
Ware told council on Tuesday he is excited to take on the challenge of helping the city build confidence in its public safety team.
In an interview with WOSU, Ware said he and Pride have worked together in the past when Ware was in Portsmouth.
"So the hiring of Paul and myself brings to the table two long-serving professionals in the policing industry with years of expertise and dealing with various challenges and understanding what a successfully-functioning police agency requires. (These include) industry-wide best practices, policy experience, budgeting experience, recruitment, hiring and retention, accountability and relationship building," Ware said.
Ware said transparency will be key in this new role.
"When you don't have solid relationships, you don't have the inherent trust. Transparency goes a long way in building trust with those that you don't have existing relationships with," Ware said.
Ware said he hopes that by the time Pride's report comes out, he is able to show the city and the community that he has already made significant progress with the police department.
"I want this to, number one, be seen by the public that we are striving to provide them with the best policing services possible and also to show how we compare with the best practices in the profession and then to show where we're going to be in the future as we continue to build out a quality police organization," Ware said.
Ware said it could also help show the public the cost of running a police department ahead of the levy vote, that includes the cost of litigation when officers either don't have a good moral compass or if they make a mistake due to improper training.
"If we can train our officers to a competent level and ensure that our moral compass is pointed in the right direction at all times, we minimize that risk," Ware said.
Ware said another task of his will be to help in the ongoing process to hire a new police chief. Ware said he wants to get that done as quickly as possible and begin filling out the city's command staff team.
