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Bryan Police
Department History
Early Information provided by
Charles Wolfe
Town Marshall's
Very little
information has been found on early police protection in Bryan. A jail was one
of the first buildings erected in Bryan, and its history has been preserved, but
little has been recorded of the officers in charge of the jail.
Prior to becoming a city in 1940, Bryan had a town marshall and night
watchman system. Among them were John Morrow, Charles Grim and August Heidley.
August Heidley was marshal for 29 years.
Charles "Hiki" Grim who had been Williams County Sheriff from
1908-1912, was the town marshall in 1923.
Charles Fetzer and Archie Clappe were night police in 1934 at $90.00 per
month. Mr. Clappe latter became the chief of police.
In 1927 there was a rash of downtown burglaries and two night watchman
were hired to patrol the area at night.
Police Department
The Bryan Police Department as we know it
today was started in January 1942. The official U.S. census for 1940 showed that
Bryan had a population of over 5,000. That meant it was no
longer a village, but a city. At a special election in 1941, Bryan voters approved
a city charter form of government.
The first full time police chief was former sheriff Carl L Ragen who had
an office in the municipal building. The police department of Chief Ragen and
four officers replaced the old village marshal and night officer systems.
A "police tower" stood on the southwest corner of Main and High
Street by the Courthouse square. This was home base for the department. Manned
by an officer, it was a reporting station for the officers on duty. It housed
the police records and equipment. It was a very crowded little building. It also
served as a signal to any would be offenders that the police department was
active. The tower also served as an unofficial guard to the two banks across the
street, and many of the businesses around the square. The old tower was torn
down in 1965 an the records moved to city hall.
Archie Clappe became the second Chief of police in the mid 1940's. He
served until his death in 1954.
Richard Bloir filled the vacancy until he resigned in June 1959.
The fourth police chief was Frank Beals Jr., (1927-2006) who had been on the force
since 1950. On May 18, 1959 he was placed in charge of the police department by
action of City Council. On July 1, he was appointed acting Chief and he officially
became chief November 16, 1959. The department grew from four or five men to
thirteen under Chief Beals - the chief, 3 sergeants, seven patrolman, a
clerk-dispatcher and a secretary. Bryan Police officers also began to be
trained in police work, graduating from the Toledo police Academy or other
training schools. A more modernized department was equipped with with cruisers,
portable radios, camera, photo lab, drunk-o-meters and other modern equipment.
The police department had a pistol range for firing practice which was also the
training ground for the Bryan Fire Department.
Robert Koverman became Police Chief in December 1977.
James Phillips was appointed Chief in May of 1980 and resigned in May
1988.
Leroy (Rick) Mock was appointed chief of police in October 3, 1988. He had
been acting Chief since James Phillips retired in May of 1988. Chief Mock
retired August 22, 1996.
John Florkowski was appointed chief of police on November 18, 1996 and retired as Chief in
March 16 of 2001.
Larry Altman was the acting Chief of police from March 17, 2001 till July
16, 2001.
Gregory Brillhart was appointed July
17, 2001 as the Chief of the department.
Chief Brillhart created the position of police chaplain. On January 15, 2003 the Bryan Police department swore in Pastor
Roger Blough as the first department chaplain.
On May 31, 2004 Sgt. Deb Shindledecker retired from the Bryan Police
Department.
Sergeant Shindledecker was a shift supervisor, an evidence technician and
in charge of crash investigations.
On June 22, 2004 Jeremy Viers was promoted to sergeant.
In August 2004 Adam Buchman was hired as a patrolman to fill the position
created by the promotion of Jeremy Viers.
On January 2, 2005 Sergeant Jim Snivley retired from the department with
over 26 years of service.
Sergeant Snivley had served in the Multi Area Narcotics Unit, was the day
shift road supervisor and was in charge of the Police reserves and fleet maintenance.
Sergeant Snivley began working with the Williams County Sheriff's department on January
3, 2005 as Chief Deputy.
On Friday March 4, 2005 Chief Greg Brillhart retired. Chief Brillhart had
30 years of law enforcement experience. He began his law enforcement career as a
U.S. Army Military Police Dog handler from 1974 to 1976. In January 1977 he was
appointed as a Deputy Sheriff in Williams County, Ohio. In July of 1985 he
was hired by the Sylvania, Ohio Police Division where he served as a Patrol
Officer, Detective, and Patrol Sergeant, until his appointment as Bryan's Chief
of Police on July 17, 2001.
Captain Larry Altman was named acting Chief of Police.
On Monday April 25, 2005 Jeff Arnold became Chief of Police.
Jeff Arnold began his career with the
Bryan Police Department on Sept. 8, 1980, when he was hired as a patrol officer.
He worked many years in the detective division and was promoted to sergeant on
September 4, 1995, working as a road patrol supervisor. He also supervised the
field training program for new recruits. He assumed the role of detective
sergeant on June 25, 1997, and supervised all criminal, drug and internal
investigations.
On Tuesday July 26th, 2005 Jason Randall stated as a patrolman at the
Bryan Police Department. His hiring replaces the opening caused by the retirement
of Jim Snivley
On Friday November 11, 2005 Adam Buchman left the Bryan Police Department
for employment with the Defiance Police Department.
On Monday November 14, 2005 Corey Bush started with the Bryan Police Department,
replacing Adam Buchman.
On Tuesday April 4, 2006 Stan Nihart and Jeremy Jones were promoted to sergeants.
These promotions fill two open sergeants slot.
On October 2, 2006 Mario Rodriguez started with the Bryan Police Department.
This hiring brings us up to our authorized strength.
On October 27, 2006 Captain Larry Altman retried from the department with
27 years of service. Larry started as a patrolman and rose up through the ranks.
He was acting Chief of Police on several occasions.
At the council meeting held Tuesday,
November 7th, motions were passed to hire Megan Henricks to the
position of Patrol Officer with the Bryan Police Department. She
was previously employed as an auxiliary Patrol Officer with Wauseon Police
Department and also worked at the Juvenile Detention Center for over a year.
Also on the agenda was the promotion of Sergeant
Paul Zawodny
to the position of Captain. Captain Zawodny has served on the Department for
over 27 years.
Patrolman
Jeffery Ridgway was promoted to the position of Sergeant with the Bryan Police
Department. Sergeant Ridgway has
been with the Department as an officer since 1993.
Angela J. Stiverson
was hired on Tuesday August 7, 2007 as a police/fire dispatcher. She replaces
Ann Dietrich who resigned in April 2007 for private employment.
Pictures
from the past
Current
department information
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Bryan
Police Department