Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse Canfield police Chief Chuck Colucci looks back at 2025 and into the future of his department.

CANFIELD — City police Chief Chuck Colucci recently had an opportunity to look back at 2025 and look at where his department is heading in 2026.

The Canfield Police Department continues to fine tune its event schedule on the Green. It took part in a tailgate party, a fall festival, Family Fun Night, safety day, and a toy drive for the benefit of Akron Children’s Mahoning Valley.

“The Safety Day and Toy Drive have been our lowest attended events of the year,” said Det. Sgt. Josh Wells. “We are looking to change that and are considering combining the two events into one.”

He said other events are being looked at for 2026 as well. One is having a tailgate party on the Village Green and broadcasting the OSU versus Texas game on a big screen.

Another event being considered for next year is having a pizza cookoff. Wells said some of the events offer beer sales under a controlled environment, but he said the department is checking with the state on liquor license options and the possibility of offering wine because the city’s temporary permit only offers beer sales.

SHEETZ ARREST

On the policing side of the coin, the biggest event of 2025 was the arrest of Jack Sheetz from a November 2000 rape case.

“We never closed it,” Wells said. “We continued to work on it.”

Colucci said Canfield’s retired detective Brian McGivern and Boardman police detective Jon Martin put in a lot of work on the case. He said the two never gave up and 25 years later, the hard work paid off.

On personnel, Colucci said his department has seen a lot of transition over the past two years.

“When I was hired in 1996, it was very different than today,” he said. “Today departments are shortstaffed and officers can choose where they want to go and who they want to work for. Also, the department used to have a staff made up of part-time officers. Today, they are all full-time.”

He said area departments have to offer competitive pay rates and incentives such as lateral entry in order to fill the ranks. Canfield met the challenge with competitive wages and with the lateral entry provision that recognizes an officer’s prior service when being hired. Colucci said an officer may have four years of service with another department, and if hired in Canfield, those four years are taken into account when it comes to wage scale.

“It only makes sense to recognize the years they have put in,” he said.

In 2025, six new officers were sworn in to bring the total number for the department (including Colucci) to 21 full-time officers. Of that number, five are resource officers in the Canfield Local School District and at the Mahoning County Career & Technical Center.

Colucci said the department’s full staffing is 24 officers, but there are three more coming in 2026. Two are in the police academy now and will likely be hired early in the new year.

“By mid-year, we should be at full staff,” Colucci said.

NEW CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT

While 2025 didn’t see much new construction for the Canfield Police Department, the new year will see some projects.

“Three of the six new officers from 2025 are women,” Colucci said. “Our women’s locker room ran out of room. Beginning in January, we will be enlarging that locker room.”

He said it needed to be done and as more women get into law enforcement, departments will need to adjust and make such changes.

As for equipment, police cruisers top the list. Two were replaced this year and Colucci hopes to replace one next year. One of this year’s cruiser purchases was for the department’s canine unit, which requires a little added equipment.

“Our cruisers typically last us around four to five years,” he said. “We try to replace two per year, but for 2026, we are looking at only one in order to save a little money.”

In 2025, the department was able to purchase two drones. One is a small one and a second is medium-sized, each with a different purpose.

For 2026, the drone fleet will grow to three, with a slightly larger drone being purchased through a state grant. Colucci said the new drone was demonstrated at the department recently.

“We took the drone straight up, over the city building,” Colucci said. “The drone was able to zoom into the Canfield Fairgrounds with the ability to identify a person.”

DISPATCHING CENTER

A separate, but important, part of the Canfield Police Department is the dispatching center. That unit has eight full-time and four part-time dispatchers who handle calls in Canfield, Green, Damascus and Berlin Township.

“We do all the dispatching for police and fire in those communities,” Colucci said. “I constantly get compliments on how professional our dispatchers are. We are very proud of them.”

Colucci said the personnel and technology needed to deliver high-quality service to the residents of the City of Canfield has always been a goal for the department. He said none of it would be possible without the support of the residents and city officials.

“We thank the community for their support,” he said. “It really means a lot to us.”