Shelby Police Department achieves recertification

The Shelby Police Department is among 32 law enforcement agencies in Ohio achieving recertification involving state standards established by the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board.

The announcement was made Wednesday by the Office of Criminal Justice Services, which noted the recertification process takes place on a revolving, three to four-year cycle.

The Shelby Police Department is included on the list released on Wednesday. (Photo by David Jacobs)

Some more details:

-- The Collaborative was formed in 2015 to create uniform 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, interaction with minors, interaction with people in crisis, property room management and evidence control, and ballistic evidence testing.

"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," the news release said.

The state has partnered with the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police to help certify Ohio’s 900-plus law enforcement agencies on a process to ensure that they are in compliance with Ohio’s standards.

The list below of recently recertified agencies:

-- Allen County Sheriff’s Office

-- Bazetta Township Police Department (Trumbull)

-- Blendon Township Police Department (Franklin)

-- Bratenahl Police Department (Cuyahoga)

-- Cuyahoga Metro Housing Authority Police Department (Cuyahoga)

-- Elyria Police Department (Lorain)

-- Girard Police Department (Trumbull)

-- Greenville Police Department (Darke)

-- Hartville Police Department (Stark)

-- Hubbard Police Department (Trumbull)

-- Jackson Township Police Department (Montgomery)

-- Kettering Police Department (Montgomery)

-- Kettering Health Police Department (Montgomery)

-- Leipsic Police Department (Putnam)

-- Lima Police Department (Allen)

-- McDonald Police Department (Trumbull)

-- North Ridgeville Police Department (Lorain)

-- Norwood Police Department (Hamilton)

-- Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (Madison)

-- Ohio State University Police Department (Franklin)

-- Ottawa Police Department (Putnam)

-- Pandora Police Department (Putnam)

-- Perrysburg Police Department (Wood)

-- Powell Police Department (Delaware)

-- Shelby Police Department (Richland)

-- Uniontown Police Department (Stark)

-- University of Rio Grande Police Department (Gallia)

-- Vandalia Police Department (Montgomery)

-- Waynesfield Police Department (Auglaize)

-- West Carrollton Police Department (Montgomery)

-- West Unity Police Department (Williams)

-- Williams County Sheriff’s Office

In addition, three law enforcement agencies were certified, the Wednesday announcement said.

They are:

-- Madison Village Police Department (Lake)

-- North College Hill Police Department (Hamilton)

-- West Jefferson Police Department (Madison)

Overall, the state detailed:

-- 618 certified agencies throughout Ohio have met the initial standards.

-- Another 29,728 officers (representing 90.40% of all law enforcement officers in Ohio, including most of Ohio’s metropolitan areas) are employed by an agency that is involved in some form of the certification process.