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, 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 started 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 retired 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 7, 2006 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.

  On October 2, 2006 Mario Rodriguez was hired as a police officer.

  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.

  On January 16, 2009 Tony Plotts started with the Bryan Police Department. He replaces Megan Henricks who resigned in 2008.

  On April 30, 2010 John Doseck retired from the department with thirty one years of service. 

  On May 3, 2010 Justin Garza started with the Bryan Police Department.

  On November 7, 2010 Sergeant Jones left our department and became Chief of Police in Edgrton Ohio.

  On September 7, 2011 Dan Bostelman was hired as a patrolman. With his hiring we are one officer under authorized strength. 

  On October 2, 2011 groundbreaking for the new police/fire building occured. 

Pictures from the past

Current department information

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