Lorain Police worthy of praise from Council

Lorain City Council should be commended for unanimously accepting the Police Department’s 2022 annual report at a meeting April 17 and bestowing praise on Chief James McCann for a decrease in crime, which in essence, made streets safer for residents and v

Right off the bat, two atlarge-council members and a ward councilman highlighted the efforts of McCann and the men and women of the department detailed in the 142-page report.

Councilwoman-at-Large Mary Springowski spoke well of McCann and the Police Department, and because of its efforts, demonstrated that everyone is working together to improve the city.

Although the Police Department has had its challenges, Springowski pointed out that the officers have done an outstanding job in protecting and serving the International City.

Councilman-at-Large Tony Dimacchia echoed Springowski’s comments adding that the addition of the Patrol Impact Team, also known as PIT, has had a significant hand in reducing violent crimes and ridding the streets of guns and drugs.

Ward 6 Councilman Rey Carrion thanked McCann for the report, adding that seeing the facts clearly shows the good work of the Police Department.

Carrion also remarked that the report is very comprehensive and detailed.

As Council applauded the report, residents should welcome the positive aspects of it, too, because it shows that police are making a difference in the community.

Dimacchia added that the relatively new Patrol Impact Team is a fantastic initiative in addressing and fighting crime.

The report shows the Police Department tended to 43,816 calls, with about 11,000 being officer-initiated calls.

Also, the report broke down the calls for service, by not only the month of the calls, but down to the day, showing statistically when the most calls for service were logged.

The highest call volume dayshift in 2022 was on Thursday, with Wednesday coming in second.

Not a surprise in the report was that for the night shift, Saturday was the highest, with Friday a close second.

The report shows officers removed nearly 200 firearms from the streets of Lorain last year, and the Patrol Impact Team accounted for 30 percent of the Police Department’s total seized firearms.

Statistics from 2022 also show homicides decreased by 50 percent, felonious assaults decreased by 10.5 percent and felonious assaults involving firearms decreased by 11 percent.

The Police Department reported 476 firearm-related violations for 2022, a 12 percent decrease from 2021.

McCann was present at the Council meeting, but he didn’t have a public comment.

And he really didn’t need to speak, because the report spoke for itself.

However, following the meeting, McCann credited his officers for the hard work they’ve put in on the city streets to bring the crime numbers down.

McCann is right in saying the men and women of the Police Department deserve the credit for coming to work every day and diligently working hard for the people of Lorain.

So, McCann deserves credit for recognizing his employees.

Along with giving credit to the police officers, McCann also demonstrated a need to be transparent with the residents on sensitive issues.

Most recently, McCann released to the public an administrative investigation and review of an incident that occurred at 3:39 p.m., Feb. 15, in the 100 block of West 27th Street involving a Lorain officer and an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when they attempted to stop three teen boys appearing to have firearms walking in the road instead of the sidewalk in a notoriously high-crime zone.

Shortly after the incident, videos from an address on West 27th were posted on social media and the event went viral with misleading and incomplete information involving the officer and the teens.

Independent reviews of the complaint were conducted by the Lorain Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards; Lorain Chapter of the NAACP Executive Board; an outside expert; communitybased leaders; and pastors as well as Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson.

Tomlinson found no constitutional violations were committed against the residents.

McCann wanted the public to know that truth and transparency are of the utmost importance to the Lorain Police Department.

McCann and his officers deserve credit for making Lorain streets safer, and City Council demonstrated good faith by recognizing the good work of the Lorain Police Department.