Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse Poland Township police Chief Greg Wilson holds the semi-annual report he presented to trustees that noted the reasons Poland Township was ranked the fifth safest community in Ohio by Travel Safe Insurance.

POLAND TOWNSHIP — Trustees received notice last month that the township ranks as the fifth-safest community in Ohio by Travel Safe Insurance, which puts together lists of the safest places throughout the world.

The recent ranking has Poland Township police Chief Greg Wilson looking at the efforts of his department, combined with the rest of the community and government. He said it represents a combination of cooperation between various entities to make the community what it is.

“Our community is made up of great people who help us police the community,” Wilson said. “We also are trying to be proactive instead of reactive. If a resident says something is strange in their neighborhood, we will check it out.”

He mentioned two years back when there was a rash of car break-ins happening near the Struthers border. By using unmarked vehicles, officers parked on the streets in question and ended up making five arrests that included gun and drug charges.

Wilson added that any resident who asks or reports something always gets a response.

Residents around Miller and Moore roads asked for a street light at that intersection and after investigating, the light was put up.

“We spoke with trustees and now have the light,” Wilson said. “It all came from feedback from residents.”

Wilson said a big part of making a community safe comes from partnerships with residents and government officials. He said the trustees are very supportive of law enforcement, and that means a lot.

“It is just a great team effort,” said Trustee Eric Ungaro. “We need a board of trustees who support law enforcement, a chief to carry it out, and officers who serve on the front lines. Community is a big part as well and in Poland Township, we have good residents.”

The Poland Township Police Department is comprised of the chief and 16 full-time officers, three part-time officers and one clerical employee. At any time of the day there is a minimum of two police cars on the road.

The department has two school resource officers at the high school and a third one at Holy Family. There is also a successful K9 unit that cost the township nothing. The dog came from a Boardman rescue shelter under a national program to give rescues a home and a job to do.

Training is another area where the township excels. Wilson said the State of Ohio requires officers to take 24 hours of training each year. In Poland, each officer puts in around 40 hours a year.

“The state reimburses up for training,” Wilson said. “We paid $1,100 this year and the state covered $17,872 for training.”

Officers receive about eight hours of OPOTA (Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy) training, 32 hours of tactical training, and a various amount of time in specialized training such as K9 or SRO training.

In a recent vehicle training provided by Dave Smith from the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force, a letter was sent to Wilson afterwards regarding Poland Township officers.

“Having had the opportunity to train many local police departments and special units, I was particularly impressed with your patrol officers in this past week’s training…” Smith wrote. “Their positive attitudes and the skills they demonstrated were truly refreshing to witness.”

One area Wilson said he is pleased with is sending officers to classes that enable them to be instructors. By doing so, one officer can attend a class and bring back the training to share with fellow Poland officers.

Equipment is another big plus for Wilson’s department. Equipment such as a drone or the installation of cameras at Township Park gives law enforcement an edge.

“We have our own system this year,” he said. “Our cameras can recognize license plates and alert us when a suspect vehicle drives past a camera.”

He said the system is from Verkata and it has aided in solving three cases in the four months the cameras have been up and running at the park.

“My ultimate goal is to expand the system,” he said. “These cameras are ours and the only fee we pay is a software licensing fee once every three years. We have made a request to serve as a test site for Verkata to get expanded coverage.”

Wilson added his department aims for education as well as enforcement. He said officers gave out 955 verbal warnings, informing subjects of the law as opposed to citing them. Officers did give out 197 citations so far this year and most are for commercial vehicles on Stymie Road.

“Stymie Road is a ‘no truck’ street,” Wilson said. “The problem is in the out-of-state vehicles heading to the landfill. Their GPS tells them to use Stymie Road.”

All considered, both Ungaro and Wilson are pleased over the Travel Safe designation.

“Our community has great people who help us police the community,” Wilson said. “Trustees are very supportive too. In my 30-plus years in law enforcement I have not seen this kind of support. They give my department the manpower and equipment we need to keep Poland as a safe community.”

In the Travel Safe listing, Poland Township had a property crime rate of 2.6 and a violent crime rate of 0.3. Fourth place went to Rocky River (near Cleveland), which posted a property crime rate of 2.8 and violent crime rate of 0.6. Third place went to Brecksville, with a property crime rate of 4.2 and a violent crime rate of 0.1. Second place went to Seven Hills (near Cleveland) with a property crime rate of 4.7 and a violent rate of 0.3. The number one safest Ohio community went to Powell in mid-Ohio with a property crime rate of 5.7 and a violent crime rate of zero. According to the Travel Safe website, the violent crime rate in Ohio is 3.1 (meaning it affects 3.1 out of 1000 people) compared to the national average of 4.0, and the property crime rate is 18.5 compared to the national average of 19.6.