Info

The Elyria Police Department has continued to make progress in the level of service that it provides to the public. In 2002, the department responded to 39,001 calls for service, an increase of 2.1% over 2001. Some of those calls were due to the new "Terrorist Alert" and Homeland Security needs. The impact of losing more officers could put our citizens in jeopardy. In my opinion, this would not be a good time to reduce our police force. We are facing days with many threats and unknown problems due to terrorists in the world. Due to the threats that have been issued to the citizens of United States and Lorain County's citizens through terrorist's organizations, the Elyria Police Department has assigned four officers to work with the newly developed Lorain County Terrorists Task Force, which is staffed with officers from all police departments in Lorain County. The main purpose of the task force is to identify and investigate any terrorist threats in Elyria and Lorain County. In order to provide a better working relationship with the public, the Elyria Police Department has involved itself in the community policing philosophy. The goal has been to make the officers on patrol more accessible to the public. As a result, a number of programs have been started, programs whose future success relies heavily on the continued support of the 1/2% income tax. One of the significant programs that has been instituted under the community policing guidelines is the bicycle patrols.