BARBERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

576 WEST PARK AVENUE

BARBERTON, OHIO 44203

(330) 745-2181 · Fax (330) 745-2185


You may contact us by email at Barberton PD.

Welcome to the new and updated Barberton Police Department Web Page. This page is currently undergoing some major revisions and you will find that not all the links are functional yet. Please be patient. This process is taking longer than anticipated, but the end product will be worth the wait.
In the meantime, click on the various links to scroll through our web site.
Thanks for visiting and please return to see the finished product.
This page designed and maintained by Lieutenant E. Penko and Dispatcher/Jailer D. Gravis. Last updates were made on March 23, 1999.
This site has been access times.



WELCOME FROM THE CHIEF OF POLICE

Welcome to the Barberton, Ohio Police Department's World Wide Web Site. It is my pleasure as Chief of Police to invite you to browse the selection of information on our department. I am very proud of our department and welcome the opportunity to share it with you.

I must first thank the sixty five or so men and women who comprise the Barberton Police Department for their dedication to making the City of Barberton a safe place to live, work, and play. They are the Department's best assets.

I have worked for this department for 20 years and I am very excited about our future. Through the efforts of several devoted individuals the Barberton Community Foundation has been set up and will contribute to a new re-birth of Barberton. The new High School is the first project, but I envision a new Justice Center to serve the southern Summit County communities as being one of the next endeavors. I am the Chairman of the Justice Center Committee set up by Mayor Randy Hart's Task Force. I welcome any ideas you might have concerning this project. Site selection is taking place and hopefully the project will include at least a 50 bed misdemeanor holding facility. Please contact me if you would like to assist our Committee. I invite all who wish to tour our present facility to understand the need we have for a new one. Please call my office at 848-6701 to set up a time for the tour.

I look for great things to happen in the City of Barberton and the men and women of the Barberton Police Department are ready to assist in any way possible.

Please tour our Department via this web site and if you have any questions please call or write us.

Sincerely,
Michael C. Kallai
Michael C. Kallai, Chief of Police
The City of Barberton


Hypertext Table Of Contents

  1. Mission Statement
  2. Goals
  3. Our Motto
  4. Officers Killed In The Line Of Duty
  5. History of The Barberton Police Department
  6. Administrative Division
  7. Patrol Division
  8. Investigative Division
  9. Communications Division
  10. Jail Division
  11. K-9 Program
  12. D.A.R.E. and G.R.E.A.T. Programs
  13. CENTAC and SWAT
  14. Unsolved Crimes
  15. Other Police Related Links


MISSION STATEMENT


The Barberton Police Department exists to serve our community and maintain social order within prescribed ethical and constitutional limits. Our purpose is to encourage a spirit of cooperation, respect, and to develop a sense of personal security and safety within the City of Barberton.

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DEPARTMENT GOALS



  1. Provide for emergency services that relate to the protection and preservation of life and property.
  2. Provide such services that contribute to the preservation of community health, safety, and general public assistance.
  3. Provide for the prevention of crime utilizing all available resources.
  4. Provide for the expeditious and prudent apprehension of suspected offenders.
  5. Provide for thorough and appropriate police-related investigations.
  6. Provide for positive measures against established criminal activities.
  7. Provide for the safe and effective flow of vehicular traffic within the City.
  8. Provide for social order during times of unusual occurrences and disasters.
  9. Provide for effective coordination between agencies related to the criminal justice process.
  10. Provide for effective and efficient departmental administration, and for the career needs of department personnel.


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MOTTO



"To Serve, Protect, and Respect"



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Officers Killed In The Line of Duty



It is fitting to pay tribute to Officer Vincent Gerek, the only Barberton Police Department Officer to die in the line of duty. He was fatally wounded Christmas Eve, 1948, while investigating a holdup at the Kroger Grocery Store, which was located on Fourth Street at Creedmore Avenue. The gunman, Brownie Godlewski, was also mortally wounded in the exchange of gunfire.

Officer Gerek's badge (#8) has been permanently retired within the Department. His name has been inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial in Washington, D.C., which was erected in 1990.

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HISTORY OF THE BARBERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT



Excerpt from "100 Years of Magic, The Story of Barberton, Ohio, 1891-1991" by Phyllis Taylor

In 1891, when Barberton was founded, Constable Tom Kelly walked his beat alone, a symbol of peace and order to the small community. However, as the town grew in size, Constable Kelly found patrolling the rapidly growing village nearly impossible and Patrick Duffy, a burly Irishman, was hired to assist him.

Town Marshals had the responsibility for the safety of the town until 1899. From 1899 to 1910, David R. Ferguson was the Village Marshal. A large majority elected Ferguson as Chief of Police in the spring of 1899. In 1911 Ferguson became the Sheriff of Summit County.

Although there was no town jail in 1891, prisoners were sometimes confined where the Town Marshal had an office. Prisoners were sometimes even locked up in the local livery. The first jail was a small building, measuring eight feet by eight feet. In 1904, in order to provide accommodations for offenders, steel cells were installed in the basement of the new fire station, directly under the stalls for the horses. This should have encouraged local residents to behave. In 1919 the police department and jail were moved to the basement of the City Building. Three years later a woman's cell was added to the jail. The last move was in 1954 when the present Barberton City Building was built. Once again the Police Department was relegated to the basement.

Transportation was a problem for early officers because of the extensive walking required. The policemen walked beats from the downtown section to west Barberton and back several times during the night. An officer could be off his beat for considerable time hauling in a town drunk in a wheelbarrow.

The city owned and operated electric company introduced the earliest signal system that the police used. Call boxes were installed in strategic location in town. If a call came into the station the streetlights were flashed and the officer on the beat would call the station from the nearest call box to receive instructions. If any distance was involved the officer would have to run to the site of the problem or flag down a streetcar, if one happened to be running nearby. That is why police officers were always given free rides on the public transportation.

If an arrest were made the officer walked the offender, with arms handcuffed behind the back, to the police station. If two persons were arrested, they were handcuffed together. Livery services were sometimes used; however, that was very expensive. Because of the high costs offenders were expected to pay their own expenses. A Councilman Miller became unpopular when he advocated a police patrol, urging that the fire department wagon should be pressed into service. It was his opinion that the "horses were eating their heads off and doing nothing in return." Although Fire Chief Royston vigorously opposed the notion it was unanimously approved. There were few objections from the public as few people had telephones in those early days and few calls of complaints were received at City Hall.

In 1911 the Barberton Police Department received its first auto patrol. The patrol car was named "Buckeye", which supposedly suggested a keen awareness of what was happening in the City. In addition to its fancy name, the automobile was decorated with an appropriate design. The police department had a flair for naming automobiles. When a patrol car was purchased during Prohibition it was named "Raisin Jack". There were numerous illegal stills in town and may residents got sick or nearly died on homemade raisin jack.

The signal system was later updated with red lights which were installed on poles around the city to alert the patrolmen to call in to the police station. In 1941 there was one police cruiser. When Police Chief Martin Seryak took office in 1954 there were 2 cruisers with one or the other generally out of service. As more cruisers were purchased a prominent Barberton physician and amateur radio operator purchased and installed two-way radios in all the cruisers and also provided equipment for a base unit in the police station at his own expense. When Chief Seryak retired in 1974 there were 11 cruisers, 3 motorcycles, and a Cushman for patrolling the parking meters.

Since 1974 the Barberton Police Department has grown to its present size with 41 sworn officers, 10 dispatcher/jailors, 3 civilian employees, 7 Reserve Officers, a part-time Parking Enforcement Officer, and a part-time Animal Control Officer.

Over the past twenty years the department has upgraded its equipment, such as providing bullet-resistent vests and portable radios for each officer, changing from revolvers to 9mm semi-automatic pistols, installed the enhanced 911 emergency number system, computer-aided dispatching and department record keeping functions, remodeled most of the police department offices in our almost 50 year old building, added a K-9 unit, D.A.R.E. and G.R.E.A.T. programs, Explorer program, and created a SWAT team. We also participate in the Summit County Central Tactical Unit (CENTAC) for countywide drug enforcement.

We are proud of the Barberton Police Department and encourage our citizens to contact us should they need our assistance.

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Police Related Links

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