Van Wert PD certified by state board

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

The Van Wert Police Department is one of 30 Ohio law enforcement agencies awarded certification or recertification status for adopting standards set by the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board.

Van Wert is listed in the recently certified category.

“The OACP (Ohio Association of Chief of Police) oversees the Ohio Collaborative Law Enforcement Accreditation Certification,” Van Wert Police Chief Doug Weigle said. “This is a great way to get all of Ohio law enforcement agencies on the same page. To get full accreditation, we need to complete five groups to the appropriate standards. I have just begun the process and I am proud to say Van Wert PD has now completed Group I.

“We are now part of the 86.5 percent of all law enforcement in Ohio that is in some phase of the certification process,” he added.

Weigle noted that Group I requires an updated use of force policy and a policy on recruitment and hiring, and he said the OACP advisory board checks the policies mentioned and makes sure everything according to law and best practices are in the policies.

“Group I is an important group because departments get in the most trouble due to those two policies not being in place or followed,” Weigle stated. “The Van Wert Police Department has always had a use of force policy. We have always had a great hiring process but it was always in a procedure form. We now have a policy in place to cover what needs done and to be followed.”

“I currently have an employee working on flyers to send out to the Police Academies for recruitment,” he continued. “We want to let future employees know about several opportunities the Van Wert Police Department has to offer. We are still down one officer and one dispatcher, and we have a couple of officers that will be retiring soon.”

The chief will meet with a representative from OACP November 10 to go over future compliance for other groups.

According to a press release from OACP, the Collaborative was formed in 2015 to create uniform minimum standards for Ohio’s law enforcement agencies. The first two standards were developed by the Collaborative in 2015 to improve the trust between citizens and law enforcement officers.

Additional standards established by the Collaborative address community engagement, bias-free policing, body-worn cameras, vehicular pursuits, telecommunicator training, employee misconduct, mass protests, agency wellness, and interaction with minors. The standards are the first of their kind in Ohio and were developed and established by the Collaborative as part of the state’s efforts to strengthen community and police relations.