Divisions & Special Units

The Patrol Bureau is responsible for carrying out the primary mission of the Police Department by providing around the clock protective service to the citizens of North Ridgeville. While emergency calls for service are the first priority, when not tasked with these calls, officers actively patrol the city. To provide continuous service, the Patrol Bureau operates two, 12-hour shifts throughout each 24-hour period. Each shift is led by a Lieutenant as the shift commander and also one patrol supervisor at the rank of Sergeant who assists in supervising the patrol activity.

To facilitate efficient service, the city has been geographically divided into three zones. These zones roughly encompass the northeast, northwest and southern portions of the city. At the beginning of each shift, officers are assigned to patrol one of these zones amongst their other duties. These additional duties may include backing up fellow officers, conducting targeted patrols to counter specific criminal activities, seeking wanted fugitives within North Ridgeville and surrounding communities and providing additional traffic enforcement in high accident or violation prone areas.

The Detective Bureau is currently comprised of six officers. The Detective Bureau will take on cases referred from the road patrol, cases that are sensitive in nature or when another agency refers a case for further investigation. The detectives work closely with many different agencies to complete their investigation. The Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office, Lorain County Children Services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Marshal’s Service, Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking and Internet Crimes Against Children are among the many agencies that the Detective Bureau routinely assists, and receives assistance from. They also take on administrative cases, conducting background checks of applicants for Police Department employment.

The North Ridgeville City Schools and the Police Department employ two full time School Resource Officers. The officers remain at the schools during school days, developing good relationships with the students and staff and ensuring a safe and secure environment. Our officers working the road also tour our elementary schools throughout the day to check in on the schools and interact with the students. Patrolman Trampush works at the North Ridgeville Academic Center. Patrolman Cross works at the North Ridgeville High School.

Police dispatch is currently comprised of five full-time and two part-time dispatchers. They operate onsite at the Police Station from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. answering emergency and non-emergency calls, entering information in our records management system, relaying information to officers via radio and handling a variety of other behind-the-scenes duties. The dispatchers also perform pat-down searches of prisoners in the jail; monitor a city-wide camera system; complete bond paperwork; tow releases; enter citations, vacation watches, and special attentions; communicate necessary information to various other city departments; and assist callers or persons on station with general information. But that’s not all… they are also researching person and vehicle data, entering and removing warrant entries, protection orders, missing persons, stolen vehicles or items in a nationwide database. Lorain County 911 dispatches for North Ridgeville Police Department from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. out of the Lorain County 911 building in Elyria.

The Police Department has employed many K-9 officers over the years. Currently, we have two K-9 officers. Our dogs come from various countries and undergo training with their handlers through Gold Shield Canine Training. They are certified as dual-purpose canines in narcotics and patrol work. Our handlers and their K-9 partners continue to train a minimum of 16 hours each month together. 

 

Patrolman McGraw is partnered with K-9 Gino who started in 2019. Gino is a German Shepherd and came from Hungary. Patrolman Julio is partnered with K-9 Irie, who started in 2020. Irie is a German Shepherd and came from Brazil.

Established in 2023, the Police Department assisted in forming a regional tactical response team in partnership with the Avon Police Department and Avon Lake Police Department. The new team has been designated as the Eastern Lorain County Emergency Response Team, also known as ELCERT.

The team’s overall mission is to respond and ultimately peacefully resolve critical incidents and high-risk situations with no loss of life when time is of the essence. The team is equipped with the ability to gather crucial intelligence and buy valuable time which will allow for better decision making and tactical planning.

The Police Department currently has eight officers that assist the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force on a monthly basis. The task force is one of several in Ohio that strive to apprehend violent fugitives and escapees in an effort to keep our communities safe. The task force has made more than 50,000 arrests since its creation in 2003.

The Police Department Honor Guard unit was established in 2016 and is comprised of nine sworn officers. The Honor Guard maintains exceptionally high standard of appearance and conduct. They primarily perform ceremonial functions related to active duty or line of duty death funerals. The Honor Guard can also be seen occasionally marching in the Memorial Day parade, performing details relating to flag ceremonies and other honor guard functions.