West Friendship Street

North Court Street west to North Elmwood Street

#109 West Friendship Street: Louis Hammerschmidt House, 1905



Louis W. and Lovina Hammerschmidt Residence, (1905-1928)

1.  His business tendency was shown in his earlier years, for a while yet in his teens he learned the shoe maker’s trade in the shop of A. Griesinger, father of Charles L. when boots and shoes were made to order and by hand.

2.  For a number of years he enjoyed the unique distinction of being bootmaker for a giant; the late Captain M. V. Bates, of Seville, as well as for other people.

 3.  Louis was a far-seeing and progressive spirit as shown by his financing the purchase of the business now known as the Hammerschmidt Floral Company 27 years ago, from the late Charles Hobart.

 4.  For many years Louis was a member of the Medina Fire Department and served several terms as a councilman.

Lovina Hammerschmidt Residence, (1928-1949)

1.  Lovina Hammerschmidt was the daughter of Alvah and Sarah Washburn well known Medina residents and widow of Louis W. died here in 1949.

M. O. Hallock Properties, (1941-2000)

1.   Macy O. Hallock purchased part lot #139 from the Hammerschmidt estate

Robert Bauer, Robert Beard, Floyd Baker, renters, (1960

Glenn F. Mack, renter, (1963

Business address changed to #201-203-205-207 North Court Street:

Dairy Delite, #201, (1960-1968)

Open Pantry Food Mart, #203, (1966–1988)

City of Medina Municipal Court, #205, 2nd floor, Carroll McClure, Judge, (1966-1982)

1.  In April 1982, the City of Medina renewed their contract with Hallock Properties to lease the Municipal Court in the building at the northwest corner of North Court and West Friendship Streets.

Dari Knoll, #201, (1969-1998)

Fire destroyed the Municipal Court on April 27, 1982.

Mary-Al Cleaners, #207, (1978-1982)

Dairy Mart, #203, (1988-1997)

L. Kim Martial Arts,#205, 2nd floor,#205, (1988-1990)

Jazzercise Medina, #205, 2nd floor, (1991-1994)

Vacant, #203, (1998-1999) 

Rite-Aid Pharmacy, #207, (2000-Present)

#113 West Friendship Street: W. Hammerschmidt House, 1913

William L. Hammerschmidt and Pearl S. Hammerschmidt Residence (1913-1926)

1.  Almost as well-known as his knowledge of flowers was William Hammerschmidt’s affection of United States and foreign postage stamps and his collection attracted visitors to the Medina Florist shop.  His collection of stamps was one of the most extensive in the state.

2.   An accompanying long interest in geography occupied much of the leisure time of the businessman

Marshall G. Maxwell Residence, (1926-1929)

1.   Ella Pearl and Marshall G. Maxwell (Owns Ford Dealership) move into former Hammerschmidt house in 1926.

Dr. Marlon E. Garver, office and residence, (1929-1931)

C. Tilton, renter, (1932-1934)

Raymond B. Bennett, renter, (1934-1935)

Pearl S. Hammerschmidt Residence, (1935-1974)

1.   Pearl was a school teacher at Medina High School for 50 years.

Sarah Hammerschmidt Ritter Residence, (1974-1976)

Hallock, Inc Realty, (1976-1997)

#116 West Friendship Street: Free Oil Bldg.-1935



Free Oil Company, George Mellert, Prop. (1935-1945)

1.  The Free Oil Company on North Elmwood Street adjacent to the old interurban station on North Court Street sells the property in 1935.

 2.  Company will move other part back on property to #116 West Friendship Street and excavated for a new 32’ x 110’ fireproof, brick office and storage space in 1935. 

Free Oil Company, Ray Mellert, Prop. (1946–1985)

City of Medina Property, (1985-Present)

#117-121 West Friendship Street: Hammerschmidt Bldg.-1904

Hammerschmidt and Clark Flowers and Greenhouse, William L. Hammerschmidt and Norman E. Clark, Props. (1901-1924)

1.  Charles F. Hobart sold his Hamm Floral Company 1000 square foot hot-house to Louis Hammerschmidt; he will be assisted by his son William and Norman Clark, 17 year old High School students in 1901.

2.  Ransom Bernard sold his lot #139 to Louis Hammerschmidt for $2100 in 1904. Louis Hammerschmidt than sold the lot he bought from Ransom Bernard to Hammerschmidt and Clark, the florists who will build a green house on it 1904.

3.  The house at #113 West Friendship Street was raised on lot #139. The Hammerschmidt lot is now 85’ wide and extends clear across the west-end of the Bernard property in 1904.

4.  William Hammerschmidt and Norman Clark purchased a greenhouse from A. I. Root and moved it to their new lot on Friendship Street in 1904.

5.  Byron F. Hobart sold his lot #136 facing North Court Street to Hammerschmidt and Clark for $300 in 1906.

6.  Hammerschmidt and Clark operated a floral store branch on West Market Street in Akron, Ohio for 15 years until 1924.

7.  William’s brother, E. C. ‘Pete’ Hammerschmidt, Medina Fire Chief in 1951-1952 entered the business in 1914.

8.  Ethel M. and Norman E. Clark sold their one-half interest in the floral business to William L. Hammerschmidt in 1924.

Hammerschmidt Floral Company, William L. Hammerschmidt, Prop. (1924-1955)

1.  By 1927, the Hammerschmidt greenhouse had been expanded to over 13,000 square feet

2.  William’s daughter, Sara Hammerschmidt entered the floral business in 1938.

3.  Irvin A. Northrop a piano tuner that lives over the Hammerschmidt greenhouse at age 72, was found dead by Will Hammerschmidt who had taken him to an egg supper; autopsy found a house thermometer, a large iron spike, hat pins and a tuning fork all tied with a cord in his stomach in 1950.

4.  Hammerschmidt sold his greenhouse and floral business to Guy Penrose in 1955, since it was now cheaper to buy flowers from wholesalers in the Southern states than to grow them locally.

Hammerschmidt Floral and Greenhouse, Ethel L. and Guy Penrose, Props. (1955-1964)

1.  Ethel L. and Guy Penrose will move the floral business to their residence down the street at the corner of Elmwood Street and will build a small display greenhouse and office in 1964.

2.  Hammerschmidt greenhouse was dismantled by Carl Einheit and he will use the salvage for an addition to the Cloverleaf greenhouse in Chatham in 1965.

#125 West Friendship Street: Hammerschmidt House-1908

Addie Jackson owned the lot in 1900.

1.  Louis Hammerschmidt built the house at #125 West Friendship Street in 1908.

2.  John R. Moore, renter (Union delivery man and Medina Mayor) (1914-1916)

3.  Mary Kimball took up residence with renter John Moore in 1915. 

4.  John Huffman sold the house to Elva L. and Bion Huntley for $1550 in 1916.

Elva L. and Bion Huntley, residence, (1916-1918)

1.  G. S. Dunn, renter, (1918-1920)

Trustees of the Baptist Church Baptist Parsonage, (1920-1977)

1.  Bion Huntley sold the rental property and house to the Trustees of the Baptist Church for a Baptist parsonage for Rev. A. Irwin in 1920.

Reverend A. Irwin, (1920-1923)

Reverend C. E. Bacon, (1928-1930)

Reverend George W. Bates, (1933-1945)

2.  The First Baptist parsonage exterior was shingled and the interior was remodeled in 1941,

Reverend James H. Comstock, (1946-1950)

Reverend R. Kenneth Smelser, (1951-1972)

Reverend William F. Russell,  (1973-1977)

John and Mary Klatka Residence, (1978-1993)

1.  Mary Klatka sold the residence to Virginia Churgovich in 1993.

Roger and Virginia Churgovich Residence, (1993-Present)

#126 West Friendship Street: Water Tank,-1882, Standpipe,-1892, Water Works Bldg.-1906

1.  The first water tank was a wood tank of 1700 barrel capacity built in 1882 and became the village of Medina first pumping station from 1882-1897.

2.  1882 - The workmen on the stand pipe have in use a very novel staging.  It is made of barrels on the top of which is the stage platform. As it becomes necessary to raise it, water is pumped into the lower portion of the stand pipe by which means the barrel staging is floated and the men are enabled to continue their work.

3.  Contractors drilled to 100' at this location and struck two water streams in 1896.

4.  Contractors pulled down old water tank in great crash and built a new one in 1897.

5.  In 1897, wood water pipe was laid from the pumping station on South Broadway Street at Champion Creek north through Public Square to the new standpipe being built on West Friendship Street.

1.  Taken from the top of Town Hill looking north, this picture shows excavations for the laying of iron pipe from the old water tank on Friendship street where the present standpipe is now located (at 1937), to the junction of Washington and Court streets.

2. These pipes, which are still in use (at 1937), were laid to replace the old wood pipes preparatory to paving the west as well as the south sides of the square in 1894.

3. The stores along this side of the square all bore names of merchants who have since passed on (at 1937).

4. The first establishment on the blocks of which just a corner of the awning can be seen was the Willis H. Albro Corner Drug Store. Then proceeding up the street were: Yoder and Lewis, boots and shoes; Hawkins Picture Galley on the second floor; C. J. Warner and Sons, dry goods; Medina Mills retail store; A. Munson & Son, hardware, which can be identified in the picture by the large tea kettle set on a post next to the curb; Nichols & Ferriman, clothing; H. H. Brainard, Jewelry; The New York Racket Store; Mrs. O. M. Jackson, millinery; and across the street where the Standard Drug now is F. E. Edwards & Co., dry goods store.

5. The Edwards store advertised it in the Gazette then as the "Spot Dry Goods Store." Item carried in its ads were novelties in celluloid and silk belts.  Also on sale were, to quote from the advertisement: "A fine lot of fans of all descriptions at low prices and a splendid quality of feather fans at 75 cents.”

6. Across Court street from the Edwards store can be seen the present American Hotel disguised by a porch which was remove about 20 years ago.

7. The gentleman seen in the front center of the picture is Charles D. Neil editor and publisher of the Gazette at that time. Behind him to the left is Charles Wightman, while Fred Clark is leaning over to inspect the ditch. The tall man with the derby is Val Maple.

8.  The new standpipe was built for $2598 in 1897 and was removed in 1954.

Medina Waterworks, (1906-1948)

1.  Medina Waterworks building built by George Gruninger for $8000 in 1906.

2.  A new 1-story concrete block building 26' x 42'was built by Levet and Waters for $763 to house village machinery and tools in 1915.

3.  In 1922, the office personnel of Medina Water Works moved from the Town Hall location on Public Square to the concrete building erected 6 yrs ago here.

Medina Waterworks, Ira Messinger, Manager, (1949-1965)

1.  City owns a house at the rear of the building that is beyond repair and need $1000; should be razed to make room for a garage for water department vehicles in 1955.

#131 West Friendship Street: Koehler House,-1913

C. H. Albert, renter, (1913-1916)

Mary and H. Frank Handy, renter, (sign, carriage painter), (1916-1918)

M .G. Adams, renter, (1918-1927)

H. C. Brunskill, renter, (1928-1930)

Harry Wright, renter, (1930-1932).

H. A. Kirkpatrick, renter, (1932-1933)

Merlin Seymour, renter, (1933-1937)

Sarah Lamphear, renter, (1938-1943)

Doris and Charles E. Bittner moved here (1939-1944)

1.  Vacant, 7 rooms, slate roof, for sale at $6000, (1944-1945)

Jean and Capt. E. Frederick Koehler, renter, (1946-1947)

William E. Miller, renter, (1948-1948)

Anna S. and Max F. Koehler Residence, (1947-1974)

Anna S. Koehler Residence, (1974-1986)

Charles Richardson Residence, (1986-1994)

Laura Richardson Residence, (1994-2000)

Chris Wohlney Residence, (2001-2012)

Kathryn Martin Residence, (2011-2018)

Erin Renee Masterson Residence, (2018-Present)

#132-134 West Friendship Street: Anderson Quonset Bldg.-1948



Reed’s Beauty Salon, Harry Allen Reed, Prop. (1949-1959)

Floyd Soward’s Music, (1965-1967)

Fenn Cleaners, Percy Fenn, Prop. (1949-1949)

1.  Percy Fenn moved his dry cleaning business from the newsstand at 115 West Liberty Street to Anderson’s new Quonset building, The Brick front Quonset building is at rear of Carl J. Anderson property at 146 North Elmwood Street next to waterworks office.

Ideal Cleaners, Virginia Mae Bright and Edward L Raymer, Props. (1949-1953)

1.  Percy Fenn sold his dry cleaning business to Eddie Raymer and Virginia M. Bright in 1949.

Eddie Paul’s Music Studio, (1962–1967)

City of Medina Property, (1969-1972)

City of Medina Municipal Building, (1973-Present)

#150 West Friendship Street: Police Station,-1973

Medina Village Town Marshals and Night Watchman:

1.  When Medina was a village, the “arm of the law” was the town marshal that was appointed by the Village Council.

2.  Any town marshal can appoint any number of unpaid deputy town marshals or reserve officers who may exercise full police powers in the state. The marshal is described as "the chief police officer of the town and has the powers of other law enforcement officers in executing the orders of the legislative body and enforcing laws.

3.  A Night Watchman was hired by the village proprietors to over-see their properties after they closed for the evening.  Some proprietors allowed the Night Watchman to have access to their stores when closed.

4.  In October of 1951, the village was notified by the Stale that it would be classified as a "statutory city," effective as of January 1, 1952 based on the 1950 population census. The designation “Town Marshal” was changed to “Chief of Police” in 1952. Homer C. Davis Sr was appointed by Mayor John W. Brown

H.  Calloway, TM (1854-1861)

William D. Frazier, TM (1886-1897)

1.  In 1886, William D. Frazier, the City Marshall’s office was in the Engine House

2.  William D. Frasier, former Town Marshal (1886) replaced Andrew A. Foskett as Fire Chief in 1898 and served in that capacity until being replaced by Samuel G. Foote in 1903.

3.  William D. “Bill” Frazier was a famous athlete and hunter. In his youth he once out ran a horse from Medina to Sharon and the horse dropped dead half-ways there.

4.  It was said in his obituary that he also repeatedly caught foxes with his bare hands, after out-running them in cross-country chases.

5.  The law enforcement facilities of the community, including the two-cell town 'lock-up” have been housed at 50 Public Square, in the old Town Hall structure since it was built in 1878, sharing quarters there with the Fire Department. Upon special arrangement the city also occasionally uses cells in the new Medina County Jail.

Frank M. Burnham, TM, NW (1906-1908)

1.  Franklin T. Burnham night watchman 1906-1908, farmer 1868-1888, then, moved to Medina where he was clerk in various businesses, a member of village council, and Town Marshal.

Van Brown Maple, NW (1909-1910)

1.  Van Brown Maple, night watchman, born 1854, died 1914.

William A.  Lowe, NW (1910-1912)

1.  William Adams ‘Will’ Lowe, night watchman, 1910-1912. Was later with highway department; died in 1932.

John Gates, TM, (1909-1913)

Henry M. Blakeslee, TM (1913-1916)

1.  Henry M. Blakeslee, Town Marshal, 1913-1916; born in Weymouth in 1871 and he moved to Medina in 1906.

2.   In 1916, he shot and killed night watchman John H. Gates after a quarrel; tried to commit suicide; went to prison. He died in 1921. 

John Gates, NW (1913-1916)

1.  On April 18, 1916, Medina Village Watchman, John Gates, 60 years old, went to work like he did so many other nights, fulfilling his obligation to make sure the businesses in village were secure. At some point during his rounds and during the “deserted hours of the morning” Gates apparently sat down to rest on a ledge in front of E. P. Hartman’s Grocery Store facing the historic square in Medina.

2.  It was at this point that Gates was approached by Henry Blakeslee, the 48 year old village marshal, a position in which Gates had previously served. Blakeslee, who was in possession of a 16 gauge double barreled shotgun, apparently had ongoing issues with Gates. Seconds after the initial meeting, two shots rang out in quick succession. A couple staying in a local hotel looked out in time to see the assailant running away from the spot where Gates was later found lying dead.

3.  A search to find Blakeslee regarding the incident was fruitless. However, Blakeslee’s discarded uniform coat was found in the basement of a nearby clothing store. It contained two live shotgun shells that were identical to two empty casings found at the scene.

4.  After an exhaustive 8-hour search, Blakeslee was found hiding in a hay maw in his neighbor’s barn. Blakeslee had a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Although seriously injured, he was treated and eventually recovered from those wounds. His shotgun was found under the neighbor’s couch. Henry Blakeslee’s case was subsequently presented to a grand jury who indicted him on first degree murder charges. He was tried and found guilty of manslaughter and received a sentence of one to twenty years.

5.  Night Watchman John Gates served with the agency for eight years. He was survived by his wife Katie and four children.

6.  John Gates is the only peace officer to die in the “line of duty” in the 200 year history of Medina Village and City as of 2018.

Albert L. Sedgwick, NW (1916-1916)

1.  Albert L “Al” Sedgwick became a night watchman when John Gates was killed in 1916. He was born in Weymouth in1864; he worked for King Bridge Company; he owned Medina Coal; was a barber; owned a pool room in 1925; also owned a restaurant and a meat market; was Medina village street commissioner from 1914-1929. Was a commercial photographer in the old Arcade Building; he sold vacuum suction cleaners in 1909; died in 1950.

Medina Gazette, June 23, 1916

MEDINA'S NEW GUARDIANS OF THE PUBLIC PEACE

Here are the two new guardians of the public peace in Medina village, in their new uniforms—Al Sedgwick and Al Hange. And it may be truthfully said that there is no village anywhere around that can boast of more popular and more efficient officers. Sedgwick is night watchman and deputy marshal, and Hange is merchants night watchman and deputy marshal.

But what is the great thing is that they are working together and in the utmost harmony. There is no jealousy, no avoiding one by the other, no bitter words on the part of one when speaking of the other, no clashing in the performance of duty and no friction among their friends and egging on by them of bitter feeling between the two. Indeed: such close friends and harmonious officers are this Damon and Pythias that they have the same first names and even resemble each other in personal appearance as proved by their picture. "How sweet It is for brethren to live together in love and unity," and especially lucky can Medina esteem itself in having these two officers after unfortunate experience of the past

 Allen “Allie” F. Hange NW, (1916-1928)

1.  Allen “Allie” F. Hange was a liveryman at American House Hotel; bought and sold horses for the government during WW I.

2.  In 1916, he “filled in a few days” as a favor to the mayor Lewis Randall, but stayed several decades. .

3. September 20, 1918, a big shepherd dog belonging to John Tanner of North Court Street ran amuck Saturday afternoon and was killed by Marshal Hange after it had bitten three different persons. Early in the day it bit one of Tanner's children, but not seriously. Uptown it waded into a soft cement walk on West Liberty Street and received a wallop on the head in payment it was then that the dog started out in earnest. 

4. Hange was also a truant officer for many years and Town Marshal from 1929 to 1946.

Stowe White, NW (1920-1924)

1.  Stowe White was Night Watchman from 1920-1924; Sawyer at A. I. Root; carpenter; custodian at Masonic Hall; Medina Farmer’s Exchange custodian in 1924. In 1916-1918 taxi service runs automobile livery service between Medina and Wadsworth from American House Hotel via Seville; two round trips per day for $1.20 per round trip; takes 1 hour in 1915.

Allie F. Hange, TM (1929-1946)

1.  The Police Department and Its activities have grown rapidly since the early 1940's, when it had only two men as regular law officers, Allie Hange and Louis Benford.

2.  in 1916, he “filled in a few days” as a favor to the mayor Lewis Randall, but stayed for thirty years from 1916 to 1946.  Mr. A. F. Hange was marshal for the longest term in the history of the village.

3. In 1942, Medina Village Council authorized a secondary police station location at the corner of South Court and East Liberty Streets in a small booth with only a telephone for communication.  The police booth remained until 1948.

Elmer. E. Holtzburg NW (1926-1940)

1.  Elmer E. Holtzburg, pioneer settler to Oklahoma territory; built AC&Y RR in Medina; he worked at Goodrich in Akron; owned a farm between Granger and Hinckley in 1904; moved to Medina in 1924; night watchman 1926-1940;  died in 1942.

Louis Benford, TM (1946-1948)

1.  Louis Benford was a formerly a rig builder and carpenter. Benford began in 1938 under veteran Town Marshall, Allie Hange and served through the WWII years.

2.  Benford was appointed Town Marshall in 1946, but was relieved of that post in the political hassles of 1948-1949, a period which saw three Town Marshals in three years – Benford, Clair House and Edward Wells and finally Homer Davis, Sr. Benford died in 1972.

Clair F. House, TM (1948-1948)

1.  House became a deputy sheriff in 1929 under the late sheriff, Lyman Buffington his father-in-law.

2.  House was Village policeman from 1935 to 1951, then retired and ran House’s Flower Shop. 

3.  Clare F. House died 1955 in a fall from scaffolding at his Lafayette farm at the age of 54.

Edward Wells, TM (1948-1949)

Homer C. Davis, Sr. TM (1949-1951)

1.  One of the first official orders issued as new Town Marshal was to license all bicycles in the village.  The first bicycle license was issued to his son, Homer “Chuck” Davis Jr. in 1949

2.  In 1952, Homer Davis title of Town Marshal was changed to Chief of Police, when Medina was officially designated a “City” from “village” status by the State of Ohio.

Medina City Chief of Police:

Homer C. Davis, Sr. CP (1952-1968)

1.  Davis was a Graduate of FBI National Academy and his diploma was presented by President Dwight Eisenhower.

2.  Davis was a bailiff in Judge Elizabeth Winters Medina Municipal Court from 1956 to 1968. 

3.  In 1947, the mileage traveled by the police cruiser was 32,046 miles.

4.  In 1965, the police cruisers covered 95,164 miles. These increases, however, have been only in keeping pace with the growth of the city.

5..  From 1950 to 1965 the budget of the police department has increased from $31,000 to $95,464.

6.  In 1966, the police department has a staff of eighteen people, composed of fourteen officers and four clerks.

Record of Medina Village and City Police Chief Homer C. Davis, Sr. 1948-1969

1.  I started working for the City of Medina as a patrolman March 1, 1948, at which time there was one acting chief and two patrolmen, two patrolmen having just quit. The police department had one car and one motorcycle. Rudolph Blateric and I were hired to replace the two patrolmen who had quit in February.

2.  I was appointed acting chief May 23, 1949, by Mayor Lauren F. Wainwright. I received a permanent appointment as Chief of Police of the village of Medina on November 2, 1949, Medina remaining a village until 1950. The salary at this time was $265 per month; the patrolmen were getting $220 per month.

3.  In the year 1950, the budget for the police department was $31,010. The population count that year was 5085, which automatically made Medina a city. I requested that the council sell the motorcycle and buy another police car, which they did. The police department consisted of one big room with two jail cells and one desk. I set up a system of records, which had not been done previously.

4.  I worked closely with city council, county commissioners, and Sheriff Charles Williams and they were able to work out a plan to buy together a set of radio equipment for all patrol cars and the station. The city also hired a desk man to operate the radio system on the night shift; this was done in March 1950.

5.  In February 1951, the city built an addition on the back of the police station, which was 6 by 22 feet, to house the jail cells. They also hired one new patrolman in 1950 and another in 1951. In 1952 we purchased our first radar unit. The men on the department went together and bought a camera and darkroom equipment. We also purchased a small model traffic light and a small lie detector unit.

6.  During these years the men on the department had attended all the short courses conducted by the FBI in this area. From March 15-26, 1954, I attended the Ohio Police Administrator's School in Columbus, which was conducted by Ohio Sheriffs and State Patrolmen, and graduated in a class of 34 men.

 7.  In 1953, I asked for one lieutenant and one sergeant, consequently they were appointed. In 1950 1 had organized an auxiliary police unit, but I could only use them in case of an emergency. So in 1958 I organized a special police unit patterned after the Painesville Unit, which was the only one in the State of Ohio at that time. These fellows donated all of their time to the City of Medina, and there have been many of these dedicated menThey are certainly doing a wonderful job of volunteer work. Each man is dressed the same as a regular patrolman, with the exception of the Special identification patch on their shoulders.

8.  In 1952, I asked for personnel to operate the radio desk on a 24-hour basis; three girls were hired at this time. I also asked for an alcohol-testing unit made by LaMott, which was purchased.

9.  I was honored by an appointment to the FBI National Academy in Washington D.C. This is the top law enforcement school in the nation, which had graduated 3,452 men, including the 60Ih session, in which I graduated on November 8, 1957. This class had the first son of former graduate, from the 25lh session. There were 92 men in my class who all completed the three months of day and night intensive training. The men are appointed to this school, one from each federal jurisdiction in the United States. President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended and presented me with my diploma.

10.  In 1957, we built our first police range for target practice, with no cost to the City of Medina. It was also in 1957 that I was appointed bailiff of the newly created Municipal Court for the City of Medina; this position I held until 1968, delivering all the papers for the court throughout the county on my own time.

11.  I asked for an Alco meter alcohol-testing unit, which was bought in 1957. In 1958, 1 made a plea for another patrolman; one was added at that time, another in 1961, and still another in 1964. All were needed, of course, in relation to the growth of the city, which is still progressing. In June of 1959, 1 asked that another man be promoted to the rank of Sergeant, which the council did at that time.

12.  In 1951, my office was so small that when I got a regular sized desk, I had to saw the center out of it to get it into the room. My office was also being used as a dark room and a meter repair room. The city offices were moved over to Elmwood Street in 1962, consequently the police department was given the vacant space over the Fire Station. The room we had formally occupied behind the Fire Station was taken over by the Fire Department.

13.  We had plenty of room at this time, in the new quarters. We added an officer's room, a radio room, and a locker room, as well as a larger chief’s office. All the remodeling was done by the men on the department. We added another Sergeant, and increased our system of files. We increased our fingerprinting equipment also, and got a Breathalyzer to test for alcohol content.

14.  Along with the Medina County Sheriff’s Department, we have started a school, which I hope to be able to train all of the new men from now on. I have sent all my new men to training schools, whenever it was possible to release them from a regular shift, which is sometimes quite difficult to manage. Most have appreciated the advantages gained in knowledge in specific fields.

15.  We have established an adequate range program to school our men in the use and care of weapons, where they also have the opportunity to practice. At the present time we have three well-equipped police cars, plus one unmarked car for the use of the Detective we now have in plain clothes. It is with a great deal of satisfaction that I review the growth of this City Police Department, which had such a humble beginning. I foresee new growth of personnel and department space as finances permit, by present and future mayors and councilmen. I feel proud remembering all the wonderful cooperation I have received over the years from a total of seven mayors and thirty-one councilmen.

16.  Chief of Police Homer C. Davis Sr. retired in 1968 and died in 1986.

Homer C.  Davis, Jr., CP  (1969-1990)

1.  Hired as a Medina patrolman in 1961.

Record of Medina City Police Department - Chief Homer C. Davis Jr. (1961-1990)

1.  I started working as a patrolman in the Medina Police Department on June 11, 1961. At that time, they issued you one uniform, a gun and a badge and sent you out to work with someone. There was no training academy. Your training came from the officer you worked with that week. We changed shifts each week for seven different weeks then started over again.

2.  We had all two-man cars and we changed supervisors each week, so we worked with all the sergeants and the lieutenants and this kind of schedule. I started working for around $3,240 a year and there was no overtime. You worked many extra hours with no pay or comp time.

3.  During some of those first years we would get a raise of $10 a month, for a total of $120 a year. Some years we didn't get anything. Almost everyone worked a second part-time job to make a little extra to pay the bills. In 1965, like we were finally being paid a reasonable salary.

4.  When I started working, the police department was in the old City Hall and Fire Station on the square, behind the fire department. We had one big room holding the dispatcher and everyone's lockers. There was a chiefs office that was also used as a meter room, darkroom and interview room. In the rear there was a small room with two cells. The department had two police cars, eight sworn officers and four dispatchers.

5.  In January of 1962, I went to my first training course, Ohio Civil Defense Instruction. That same year I also attended an Ohio State Highway Patrol School on accident investigation, arrest and court procedure, criminal and traffic Law. By the end 1962, the department moved upstairs and took over the mayor's office and council chambers, because they had moved to one of the old houses on Elmwood Street.

6.  In April 1965, all departments in the County took part in the first Basic Police Course Units 1 and 2; the first was 40 hours the second 24. The Ohio Trade and Industrial Education Division sanctioned these and they were the pilots for the first Basic Police Training given in Ohio. Later in 1965.I took the first promotional test given by the new Civil Service Commission and was promoted to Sergeant on March 14, 1966.

7.  November 30 1968, my father Homer Davis Sr. retired as chief. The city hired Kent State University to design and administer the new chiefs’ test. Everyone in the department with one- year service became eligible for the test. Dr. Ivarl Roberts was the head of the new Police Science Training program at Kent State. He designed, administered and graded the test and reported back to Civil Service Commission that I had earned the highest score.

8.  I was promoted to Chief on April 12. 1969. One of the first things I did as the new chief was to request that city council appropriate money for more patrolmen. When I took over we had twelve sworn officers including the chief. The total budget for the department was under two hundred thousand dollars. I also requested they hire a meter person so the patrolmen no longer had to do that job. Joanne Blough was hired as the first meter maid in July of 1969. Then city council gave us three additional patrolmen.

9.  Next we redesigned the badge and patch. We asked for help from the business community and Elmer Zarney and his company came up with the new design. The center of the badge and patch was also adopted by city council to become the city seal. We wrote new rules and regulations and policies and procedures for the department. We remodeled offices so there was an office for the chief and one for the sergeants and lieutenant.  We divided the city into zones for patrol purposes.

10.  In July 1970, council allowed us to reorganize the department by promoting two patrolmen to sergeant, so that we could have an officer in charge of each shift. By of the end of 1970, we were working one-man cars and were getting ready to start our new 4 -10 plan this gave the officers 10-hour shifts and a four-day workweek. At the time, most people in law- enforcement said it would not work because the department was too small. Many departments attempted this system but most quickly abandoned it. But the officers liked the concept, so they made it work and it is still in operation in the department today.

11.  We assigned one of the Sergeants to take charge of the department’s records system and function as the "office manager" for the department consolidating many of the administrative functions that had previously fallen to the Chief of Police. At the same time we began moving toward making that a civilian position, which was done when that Sergeant retired in 1971. We obtained and began using the first video system employed in the state to record DUI arrests. By agreement with the Ohio State Patrol our equipment was kept at the patrol post, we supplied the video and they administered the Breathalyzer tests. 'The machine was also used for the taking of statements in serious cases. All supervisors were sent to specialized training sessions to aid them in their tasks.

12.  After my first year as chief; we issued a report to the citizens of the community explaining what we had done and listing seventeen changes. We reported that we had seven officers enrolled in the Police Science degree program at Lorain Community College.

13.  At the beginning of 1971, a grant was approved to study the possibility of consolidating law enforcement in the county. Battelle Institute was hired to conduct the study. Mutual aid agreements were signed with the sheriff’s department and the cities in the county. This then led to a signed agreement with departments in Ashland and Wayne Counties and the formation of the Tri-Comity Emergency Unit. All departments in the three counties supplied personnel to train with this unit, which could be called for any type of emergency

14.  In 1971, we also acquired our first police dog, Uuco, a German shepherd. The citizens of Medina raised money for the dog after we told them there was no money for him in the budget.

15.  Donations came in from school children civic group, business and industry. In October of 1973, the popular Medina police dog was accidentally electrocuted when he got stuck between a woodpile and electric fence.

16.  Next we requested that city council to do a staff study of the police department. The International Association of Chief Police was hired to do the work. The resulting report covered all areas of the operation from records keeping to staff. The study also provided the city with the building design for a new police station, which unfortunately was drastically modified during its construction in efforts to "save" money.

17.  In September 1977, a report was presented to city council that updated the staff study done in 1971 by IACP.  A request was made for additional officers, dispatchers and equipment to department. We had four full-time dispatchers and eighteen full-time officers at this point.

18.  City Council approved the construction of the new City Hall and police department in March of 1973. Because of recent bombings around the country IACP had recommended the building have no windows. The dispatch area had a computer floor because the wiring for radios and phones were always changing. The basement was added so that we might later add a target range, but this became one of the first "cuts" in the design. The police department is still trying in the year 2000 to obtain a range for training.

19.  The cellblock area was designed so the court could be added to the back of building and the cell used for both, but this also never came to pass. A garage "sally-port" was attached to the cell area for safer transfer of prisoners; unfortunately the drive was changed at the last minute to add more space to the City Hall parking lot, rendering the sally port unusable. The interior walls, which had been designed to be moveable to accommodate changing office needs, were changed to concrete blocks because it was cheaper. The City Hall received money for all new furniture but the police department got hand-me-downs. Before the building was done, a newly elected mayor ordered that a door be put into City Hall through one of the offices. This caused a lot of security problems and loss of an office. In April of 1974 the police department moved into the new building on Friendship Street. and still occupies it as of the year 2018.

20.  In the fall of 1971, I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police. I served in that capacity through 1974. In 1972, the President, Robert Woods, appointed me to serve as the first chairman of the OACP's Executive Committee. From 1971 to 1979 I served on the Ethics Committee of the OACP from 1976 to 1979 as its chairman. Col. Robert Chiaramonte appointed me as an honorary member of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

21.  In 1972 we began a new record system that had been recommended by the I.A.C. P. study. This was big change that took us from 5x8 cards to forced answer report forms that were designed to work with the uniform crime report that was sent to the FBI each year. The system we adopted was subsequently used as a model throughout the state. We also installed a central alarm control panel to keep track of the rapidly increasing number of burglary, fire and robbery alarms coming in the police department.

22.  Also in 1972, we did a study to see if we should consolidate the city police and fire departments, and ambulance service. Part of the impetus for this study was the fact that we were on the verge of losing the ambulance service, which had been provided by the local funeral homes, and the increasing demands on our part time fire department. Chief Kelly from Oakwood, Ohio, a Suburb of Dayton, about the same size as Medina who headed such a department, made the report to city council in February 1973. In the end, the report was not adopted. Fire and police remained separate and a Life Support Team was created by the City and the hospital, although the police department from their inception, through the present dispatched all three agencies. In December of 1972, Sgt. Sid Bowman left the police department after 25 years to become the first full-time city fire prevention officer for the city.

23.  Also in 1972 the Police Department was instrumental in persuading the voters to pass the City's first income tax, VI percent, which remains in effect today.

24.  In May 1973, the city received approval for a grant requesting new police department radio equipment.

25.  By March of 1973, the Medina County Law Enforcement Authority was formed, based on the recommendations of the Battele study on law enforcement consolidation. The new board was formed with eleven members, consisting of the sheriff, police chiefs and law directors of the three cities, a trustee, the county prosecutor and a commissioner. Everyone agreed to try and do some things together such as training, purchasing and instituting a new shared computerized records system. By 1974, Sheriff Norman Stuart agreed to a combined record system with Medina City and some of the townships using a computer at the Medina County Vocational Center, the other Cities declined to participate and MCLEA continued basically as a joint effort of the Medina Police Department and the Medina County Sheriff’s office. By 1975, Robert Widdon the new Director of MECI.EA was overseeing the operation.

26.  In the spring of 1974 majority of the members of the police department went on strike this resulted in an investigation at the behest of the mayor /safety director, and the subsequent firing of several members of the department. By summers end all had won reversals and were back to work. The strain of this experience created a rift between "city hall" and the police department, which negatively affected operations for a number of years.

27.  By October 1974, the department members requested the recognition of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association as their bargaining representative for wage negotiations. This predated the Ohio Public Employee's Collective Bargaining law. In April of 1975, the city agreed to negotiate with them, but by June it was obvious that the city was not willing to actually participate in negotiations with a union. Since the law at that time did not require the city recognize a union, the department dropped the union and started to bargain for themselves. It took until December to get the final contract approved, but it resulted in the first overtime compensation for department members.

28.  1975 saw the formation of Medina Citizens for Safety, a group of community leaders selected to look at all aspects of the police department operation and make recommendations for improvements and changes. They started out by putting together a constitution, bylaws and election of officers. They then proceeded to call on members of the justice system to explain their job and duties to them. This included police officers, judges, prosecutors, corner, safety director and Mayor. Early in 1976, the group started its first Neighborhood Watch Program in the Forest Meadows area with the help of the homeowners association. By fall of that year project Thief Guard was started. The department purchased engravers to people to mark their valuables.

29.  The department instituted a bicycle patrol in several of our neighborhoods to combat a growing burglar problem. Partially in response to the same problem we received a grant allowing us to add a detective specializing in juvenile problems to the force. This brought the detective division to two full time officers for the first time in our history, although we had experimented with part time assignments of officers to the unit several times.

30.  Also in 1975, the Medina and Wayne County Drug Enforcement Group called Medway was formed with the help of a federal grant. The board of directors was made up of the chiefs and sheriffs of the two counties. In May of 1975, six senior citizens were hired part-time to help with the record system. Maintaining an adequate records staff to keep up with the departments needs has always been and remains a critical problem.

31.  In June of 1976 a Cadet Program was started in the department with three college students that wore interested in law enforcement. They were paid $3 an hour and worked sixteen to twenty-four hours a week during the school year and up to forty hours a week in the summer. They were Doug Yeager, Janet Kincaid and Nancy Labadie.

32.  In July 1976, I attended the National Crime Prevention Institute basic crime prevention training in Columbus. The new director, Col. Robert Chiaramonte, asked me to serve on the committee to form an Ohio Crime Prevention Association. We went to work and created an organization that was patterned after the OACP with the same districts and similar organizational structure.

33.  When the department’s lieutenant retired after 27 years on the department in July of 1976, we requested the creation of additional lieutenant's position with one lieutenant be in charge of the road division and the other in charge of the detectives, dispatchers, records and all other support services. We later requested an additional sergeant slot, putting one sergeant on all shifts and one in the detective division. This was all done without adding to the personnel and still leaving nine patrolmen.

34.  As the result of a suggestion by one of our Sergeants and an investigation by the department, 1976 was also the year all of Medina's officers' S&W model 19 service revolvers were fitted with a magnetic safety device, an early example of a so called "smart gun" which prevented use by unauthorized persons. The officers who were wearing magnetic rings could only fire the weapons. This meant that if the officer lost his weapon for any reason, it couldn't be used against him or an innocent person.

35.  In November 1979, Robert Turner held Sgt. Dennis Krieger & Patrolman Craig Backus at gunpoint. They were kidnapped and taken to Cleveland where they were left handcuffed to a pole in an eastside neighborhood. Turner had escaped from prison and was suspect in a murder in Michigan. On December 3, Robert Turner was arrested just south of Daytona Beach in Fort Orange, Florida. He had taken one of the revolvers he had stolen from the kidnapped officers to a gun shop because he thought it was jammed. He was unaware that the gun was equipped with a magnetic safety device. The gunsmith upon seeing the device became suspicious and called local police, who arrested Mr. Turner when he returned to the shop to pick up "his" gun.

36.  By 1992 the inventor and sole supplier of the devise had died, and many of the modified weapons themselves were beginning to wear out, younger officers on the Medina Police Department, and nationwide were pushing for the abandonment of revolvers in favor of semi-automatic pistols. For all of these reasons the police department finally abandoned the project, although a few of the guns remain in use as of the year 2000 by members of the department who still value the safety feature

37.  In January 1977, Nancy Labadie, one of our original cadets, was hired as the city’s first Crime Prevention Coordinator. She was sent to the National Crime Prevention Institute in Louisville, Kentucky for training. This was possible because of a grant received for $17,000 to start a Crime Prevention Division. By June, the Friendly Neighbor Crime Watch Program was in full swing with regular meetings and large numbers of citizens participating. Other programs were started, such as Bicycle Rodeo's and CBers Club to improve department / citizen cooperation and problem solving. With the help the Post Office a program was started encouraging the carriers to report anything unusual on their routes. The high school Key Club helped with project identification by going out and helping with the marking of property for people who requested help. The Crime Prevention Newsletter became a real source of information for all groups and was mailed to every house in town.

38.  By the summer of 1978, the Neighborhood Crime Watch had signs posted at all entrances to the city. The Boy Scouts painted house numbers on the curbs and an explorer post was started in department to show young people what police work is all about.

39.  By March 1979, a program had been worked out with the Chamber of Commerce to do business crime prevention surveys and training programs for people in business and industry. The first was held at the JVS with over two hundred people attending. With the help of the FBI, the topics covered included robbery, burglary, employee theft, bad checks and fraud. At their conference in May 1979, the Ohio Crime Prevention Association named Nancy Labadie the outstanding Crime Prevention Officer in the state. They also named the Medina Crime Prevention Program as one of the outstanding programs in the state.

40.  In August of 1981, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Parade Magazine named Nancy Labadie as International Association of Chiefs of Police and Parade Magazine named Nancy Labadie as one of the top ten officers of the year. She was an honored guest at their conference in New Orleans were she received the award.

41.  In December 1979, Diane Ganyard became the first female patrol officer in the city. In February 1980, Nancy Labadie who had been dispatcher for a year and crime prevention coordinator for three years was hired as an Officer as well. They both went to the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy for their Basic Training as all new Officers did. Ms. Ganyard finished first academically in the class. She was the first woman to attain that honor in the academy's history.

42.  In the fall of 1979, I was elected Second Vice President of the OACP and in 1980 I was elected First Vice President.

43.  On October 25, 1980, Officers Nancy Labadie, Tom Steyer and Sgt. Jim Dunkle were presented Medals of Honor at the city council meeting for distinguished service. The three saved a woman and her three children from a burning home on September 18, 1980.

44.  On March 29 1980 the department unveiled the latest crime prevention device, the Crime Dog. The Crime Dog made his debut at Medina's Children's Safety Day along with Clancy the Clown from Mansfield Police Department. The Crime Dog was modeled after the National Ad Council's "McGruff Take a Bite out of Crime Promotion.” Departments across the country would later use our Crime Prevention Dog costume, in their programs.

45.  In December of 1980, we requested that city council consider dropping out of Medway, the Medina Wayne County Drug Enforcement unit, because of the lack of drug enforcement they had in the city. The Medina County Commissioners also withdrew, saying there was a lack of communications from the drug agency. By 1982, Wadsworth officials said they were not getting their money worth and dropped out also.

46.  In 1981 we set up a committee along with the Medina City School Board and City Council to work on the drug problem. We incorporated drug education and information programs with the crime prevention newsletter that was sent to all homes in the city. We set up a program to turn in a pusher or "TIP" as it was called. With this program we set up a reward program if the tip led lo arrest and conviction.

47.  We then recommended to city council that we purchase a new radio system that could not be monitor by other people. The system used portable radios that could be taken in an out of a car charger so the officer did not need two radios. The system also included a recording device for all radio and phone calls to the department.

48.  In the fall of 1981 at the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police conference, I became President of OACP.

48a.  SSS Consulting did another study of the department in 1982. Michael Kelly reported to city council and the Mayor on a number of issues including report writing, break time, shifts worked training and manpower needs. Most of the things the department could do on their own were done, but the city council declined to fund the other recommendations.

49.  In September 1982 a radio console was added to the department that had an interconnection with the Sheriff’s Department radio system, enabling both departments to use each other's system in case of emergency.

50.  By December of 1982, we installed a small green "running light" on top of the patrol cars. This was done to make the cars more visible in an effort to deter crime. Seeing patrol cars at night also made people feel more secure in their stores, homes and business. The cars had a switch to turn the light on when necessary. The effort was very popular with citizens and effectively gave the illusion that there were more police on the street than was actually the case. The idea, which was patterned after a similar program in Hawaii, was unfortunately quite unpopular with many of our officers for reasons I never fully understood.

51.  In August 1983, city council hired Cleman's, Nelson and Associates for $20,000 to do a city wide pay study of all departments.

52.  In 1983 we set two main goals for the department. The first was to attain accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. The second was to set fitness standards for officers and set up a training area in the basement. By January 1984 we had spent hundreds of man-hours getting everything ready for the final accreditation application process and requested the funds from council. They turned us down, saying that we would be one of the firsts in the state and we should wait. By March 1984 city council refused the $10,000 requested for the fitness program. We implemented a modified fitness program without funding.

53.  Many officers and employees donated exercise equipment to the workout room we created in an unused portion of the basement. Over several years the area became a regular gym.

54.  In January of 1984, city council also received the pay study noting that the department was the lowest paid of any in the survey. Unhappy with the survey results, council went through hearings and demanded that the consultant revise the report. By April, the patrolmen, this time empowered by the Ohio Collective Bargaining law, requested union recognition. City council tried to block it, but by October the State Employee Relations Board certified the Patrolmen as the first city union group.

55.  In the spring of 1984, the Governor appointed me to the Ohio Peace Officer's Training Council. The council established all the training standards and hours for the peace officers in the state and oversaw the operation of the academy in London, Ohio.

56.  In February 1985, we requested a motorcycle for the department to be used in traffic enforcement but council turned down that request.

57.  April 1985, the center for the Cleveland Browns, Tom DeLeone, retired from the team but decided to stay on as one of the Medina Special Police Officers. He said he wanted to go into Law Enforcement after the time he spent with the Specials. Later the U. S. Customs Service later hired him.

58.  In 1985 the city council was forced by the Collective bargaining Law to negotiate with the patrolmen for the first contract and it was a long and bitter process. Council hired Buckingham, Doolittle and Burroughs to negotiate for the city. The cost for the work was more than the total the patrolmen were asking for in the three-year contract.

59.  The Department lost four officers by May including a sergeant with over 19 year’s experience who went into private industry, all citing the low pay as one of the reasons they felt compelled to resign.

60.  By June 1985, the Patrolmen presented city council with a petition signed by over two thousand residents who supported them. The Mayor and the Chief both supported them, as did the local papers. City council forced the negotiations into arbitration, refusing to budge from their offer of a 3% across the board raise, and the arbitrator told them and their legal counsel to settle or he would rule in favor of the patrolmen on everything.

61.  In the end the contract gave the patrolmen a 23% increase for the first year, considerably more than they had asked for originally. The contract for three years cost $28,000; city council paid the law firm over $32,000. 62.  For the first time since the early 1970's the officers pay was beginning to be comparable to other departments our size.

63.  In hopes of improving service to the public, in June 1986, we started a survey of complainants, victims, suspects and arrested persons, randomly picked from reports to request their opinion of the treatment they got with their contact with the department, and soliciting their suggestions for improvement.

64.  On Juno 26, 1986 former Chief Homer C. Davis Sr. passed away. He started with the department in 1948 and was appointed chief in 1949. He served as chief until retiring in 1968.

65.  In August 1986, the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote a series of articles critical of the legal system in Medina County. The controversy motivated then Mayor William Lamb and me to request a State or Federal investigation of what we considered to be baseless and unfounded accusations. Eventually Judge Robert Feighan from Cuyahoga County was appointed to oversee the investigation. Feighan appointed Peter Hull of Cuyahoga County as Special Prosecutor B.C.I. investigators were also used to do the field investigation. The special prosecutors called a special grand jury to review the cases in question. This investigation went on for over a year and Feighan appointed Carmen Marino, considered a top prosecutor in Cuyahoga County to assist Peter Hull with the grand jury. Marino said he accepted the job without pay because he was already getting a salary as Assistant County Prosecutor in Cuyahoga County. Feighan, Hull and Marino had all worked as assistant prosecutors under John T. Corrigan.

66.  In the end this grand jury brought an indictment against a former County Commissioner on a charge that he had murdered a female employee over seven years previously. From the time of the woman's death there had been gossip and suspicion that the death, which had been ruled accidental by the county coroner, had been a murder, and that the former commissioner was involved and that law enforcement, for some reason, had covered this crime up. Actually, in the following years, the matter was investigated a number of times by the Medina Police Department, Medina County Sheriff’s office, and the Medina County prosecutor's office. A write up of the case had even been presented for review by the FBI's behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia. All of these investigations had yielded the same results. There was never any evidence of a crime, all of the death scene evidence was consistent with the accidental death ruling, and there was never any evidence to support the popular believe that the former commissioner had anything to do with the case.

67.  Despite this the special prosecutors brought a case against the man, after months of reporting to the news media that they had uncovered "proof" that the girl had been murdered and raped by the former official. Even the trial judge expressed surprise when he discovered that absolutely no "new" evidence had been uncovered, and in fact all of the information gained by the special prosecutor’s investigation amounted to the same thing police had known for years. After the inevitable not guilty verdict, the special prosecutors presented their bills to the county for hundreds of thousands of dollars refused to make any report of their investigation or of their findings to the public or to the commissioners.

68.  In the spring of 1987, the County Chiefs Association formed the Medina County Enforcement and Education Agency in order to apply to the new Medina County Drug Abuse Commission (MCDAC) that had been formed to distribute the money from the drug levy that had been passed. In May of 1988, the chiefs elected me as chairman of the group.

69.  In 1987, the department started Project DARE, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, by sending Officer Scott Thomas to Los Angeles for his training. He was the second officer from Ohio so trained. In the fall he started leaching the DARE program in all the city elementary schools and the catholic school. We funded the program the first year out of the department budget by taking the money that had been allocated to buy a new car because city council had not been funding any new programs for the department.

70.  In 1987 we completed our transition to a new computerized reporting system after over a year of training, problem solving and set up. This system was based on an IBM system 36 computer and served us well. By 1990 when I retired we were beginning to see signs that we had outgrown these technology capabilities and by I996 the department under Chief Steyer moved to replace the system with a PC network, a project completed the following year under Chief Hanwell.

71.  In February 1988, I was elected Chairman of the Ohio Peace Officers Training Council.72.  In May the Police Department joined in with other city workers and the Bronson Street Block Club to pick up the Club to improve relations between the department and neighborhood residents. Also in May of 1988 four new officers were added to the DARE program with the first grant money from MCDAC. One was Officer Peg Dudek of the department to help expand the program to die junior high in Medina. In July, 1988 I became the only officer from Ohio on the twenty-member Board of Directors for the National DARE Officers Association at the first DARE officers conference held in Los Angles, California. DARE first stared in the Los Angeles. Schools with the help of L.A.P.D. in 1983

73.  On November 23 1988 the Health and Safety Committee of city council again cut the request for two additional patrolmen from the budget, leaving the department with twenty sworn officers. There had been no increase in eight years.

74.  December 1988 saw the start of the 911 emergency numbers for all departments in Medina County.

75.  In March 1989, the first Ohio DARE Officers Conference was held. Officer Scott Thomas was elected second vice president and I became the first president of the association. In April the DARE Band, Hot Pursuit, gave a concert for all Medina County DARE kids at the Medina Junior High. Ohio Attorney General Anthony Celebreze was the guest speaker. In the spring of 1989, Medina was chosen as the first department in the nation, outside Los Angeles, to get the new high school DARE curriculum. Officer Scott Thomas and Medina High School teacher Dale Weygandt went to Los Angeles for the training. When the school year started in the fall, they presented the ten weeks series to all tenth graders.

76.  On December 31 1990 Homer C. Davis Jr. retired.

Thomas Steyer, CP  (1991-1996)

1.  Chief Thomas Steyer started with the department June 2, 1975, and was appointed Chief on February 18, 1991.

2.  A Tiffin, Ohio native, Thomas Steyer spent 21 years with the Medina, Ohio, Police Department before returning to Tiffin as police chief in 1996.

Dennis Hanwell, CP (1996-2009)

1.  Hanwell is a graduate of the University of Akron’s criminal justice program. Hanwell joined the police force in 1983 and worked the streets for five years before he was promoted to sergeant, then lieutenant in 1991. He became chief in 1996 and resigned in June, 2009 when elected to the position of Mayor of the City of Medina.

2.  Some of the enhancements to the Medina Police Department under the leadership of Chief Dennis Hanwell include the Bicycle Patrol, the Canine Program, the Motorcycle unit, implementation of SWAT, the development of core values, the hosting of eight community police academies, the Adopt-a-Senior program (an officer visits a senior weekly), the police department website, and the hosting of Medina County Safe Communities Program and website.

3.  For 11 years, the chief hosted a cable television show each month called Behind the Badge, highlighting various aspects of law enforcement that interest the community.

Patrick J. Berarducci, CP (2009-2017)

1.  Patrick Berarducci, the man known affectionately as “Bear,” served as Medina police chief from 2009 until his retirement in 2017.

2.  Prior to his time in Medina, Berarducci spent four years with the Youngstown Police Department before joining the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as a supervisory special agent for more than 29 years. He was the Boardman police chief for two and a half years.

3.  Among the programs and initiatives Berarducci helped spearhead were the use of social media within the department, getting the department certified to administer naloxone to opioid overdose victims, adding automated external defibrillators to every police car and implementing body camera usage among officers.

4.  In 2016, the Police Department handled nearly 24,000 calls for service, an increase of 9% over the prior year. While calls increased, arrests decreased by 16%.

5.  The dispatch center remains very busy with dispatching and answering phones for the city, Medina Township and Montville Township. To help appreciate this work volume, the center handled over 300,000 radio and telephone communications in 2016 or about 1 call every other minute of every hour every day.

Edward Kinney, CP (2017-Present)

1.  Edward Kinney was hired by the Medina Police Department in 1997.

2.  Since 1997, Edward Kinney has held various assignments within the department including the community oriented policing division, SWAT, motorcycle patrol, bicycle patrol, detective bureau and the Medina County Drug Task Force.

3.  In 2004 Edward Kinney was the first officer assigned full time to conduct drug investigations within the City of Medina. This assignment consisted of covert investigations involving drug trafficking in and around the City of Medina.

4.  In 2009 Edward Kinney was assigned to the Medina County Drug Task Force. He served as the Team Leader, second in command, while assigned to the Drug Task Force.

5.  In May of 2011 Edward Kinney was promoted to sergeant and assigned to the Patrol Division.

6.  Edward Kinney has attended well over 1000 hours of training and has several certifications in the field of computer forensics and computer network investigations.

7.  In 2014 Sergeant Kinney attended the second session of the Public Safety Leadership Academy (PSLA). PSLA is an eleven week cohort-based leadership course offered by the John Glenn College of Public Affairs in partnership with the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

8.  Sergeant Kinney supervised the Patrol Division afternoon shift until his promotion to Chief of Police in October of 2017.

9. After becoming chief, he activated the police department Facebook page, which has 12,000 followers.

10.  The Medina Community Police Academy Alumni Association (MCPAA) is a great asset to the police department and the city. This is a group of people that volunteer several hours monthly to help out with a variety of activities such as parades, cruiser maintenance, and help with police training. They have monthly meetings with a variety of training topics and guest speakers.

 11.  We’d like to send big thanks out to the following business owners who gave donations towards the Medina PD K9 program. The K9 program is an invaluable resource for the city and donations have helped make it possible.

12.  L to R: Officer Michael Lyon and K9 Nero, Joe Lazor, owner of Lazor Insurance and Financial Services, Rick Stickland, owner of south of the Square Collision Center, Mayor Dennis Hanwell, Mike King, owner of Lloyd’s Towing & Service, and Police Chief Edward Kinney. Not pictured: John Kim, owner of Symphony Financial Services

13.  April 8th through April 14th 2018 is National Telecommunicators Week. The Medina Police Department Communications Division is comprised of 10 dedicated men and women who coordinate and dispatch for three police departments, one fire department and one EMS service. They are also the answering point for all city matters after normal business hours. Our Communications Center is our "hub" and the dispatchers keep the "wheels" moving. Please join me in thanking our hard working dispatchers during this week of recognition. Chief Kinney

14.  The Medina Police Department and the Cleveland Clinic Police Department together held a basic self-defense course last night. Participants learned basic Streetwise Self Defense and Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) techniques at the free event. Officers taught basic strikes, kicks and blocks. Participants also learned what to do if an attacker grabs, chokes or holds them.

15.  Congratulations and welcome back to Sergeant Brett McNabb. Sgt. McNabb recently graduated from the 272nd session of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy. Sgt. McNabb received his diploma from FBI Director Christopher Wray.



16.  The FBI National Academy, initially established in 1935 as the ‘FBI Police Training School’, is a professional course of study for U.S. and international law enforcement managers nominated by their agency heads because of demonstrated leadership qualities. The 10-week program—which provides coursework in intelligence theory, terrorism and terrorist mindsets, management science, law, behavioral science, law enforcement communication, and forensic science—serves to improve the
administration of justice in police departments and agencies at home and abroad and to raise law enforcement standards, knowledge, and cooperation worldwide.

17.  Officer Piccoli, Officer Scherer, and Officer Wade graduated from the Ohio Highway Patrol Basic Academy today.
Officer Piccoli was the class speaker. They will begin the next phase of training this week, which consists of pairing them with experienced officers who will train them in the field. Congratulations officers!!

Town Marshals and Night Watchman

H.  Calloway, TM 1854

William Frazier, TM 1886-1897

Frank M. Burnham, NW 1906-1808

Van Brown Maple, NW 1909-1910

William A.  Lowe, NW 1910-1912

John Gates, TM, NW 1908-1916

Albert L. Sedgwick, NW 1916-1916

Henry Blakeslee, TM 1916-1916

Allie F. Hange NW, 1916-1928

Allie F. Hange, TM 1929-1946

Stowe White, NW 1920-1924

Elmer. E. Holtzburg NW 1926-1940

Louis Benford, TM 1946-1948

Clair House, TM  1948-1948

Edward Wells, TM -1949

Homer C. Davis, Sr TM 1949-1951

Chief of Police

Homer C. Davis, Sr 1952-1968

Homer Charles Davis, Jr 1969-1990

Thomas Steyer, 1991-1996

Dennis Hanwell 1996-2009

Patrick J. Berarducci  (2009-2017)

Edward Kinney (2017-Present)

 West Friendship Street:

North Elmwood east to North Court Street