Huber Police

Class #5 of the Huber Heights Citizens Police Academy graduated on November 10, 2009 at a ceremony at the New Beginnings Church on Chambersburg Road. Shown with the class members above are Officer Mark Bruns, Sergeant Charles Taylor and Chief Rob Schommer.

A dinner was held in the academy students' honor, which was attended by family and friends. A great time was had by all.

The Huber Heights Police Division is proud to announce that Officer Dorian Ringer has joined the police division. He brings with him 13 years of experience with the Trotwood Police Department.

Officer Ringer is currently in the transitional Field Training Phase of his employment. Please feel free to greet and welcome Officer Ringer. We are sure you will be pleased with the service he provides!

Huber Heights Police Chief Robert Schommer addressed local regulations concerning dogs and cats at a recent city council meeting.

Schommer began by addressing dogs and cats at large.

"You are not allowed to have a cat at large, as well," said Schommer. "We get a lot of complaints about damage to flower gardens, cars and other things due to a large number of cats."

Dogs have to be licensed in Huber Heights, but there is not requirement for the licensing of cats.

Schommer then addressed the ownership of a cat.

"If you feed the cat, if you care for the cat, or if you allow the cat to stay in your house more than 24 hours, you essentially claimed ownership of the cat and you are responsible for it." he said.

The police department relies on registration and dog licenses to determine the owner of a dog. They also keep a running record of people who call in with lost or missing dogs.

An ordinance concerning barking or howling dogs involves a dog that has frequent or habitual barking that creates unreasonable, loud and disturbing noises of such intensity and duration that disturbs the peace. Schommer said that if there is a dog in the neighborhood that fits this discription, residents can call the police department and an officer can contact the owner and go through a process of warnings and enforcement tactics that are defined in the ordinance.

If police are unable to contact the owner of the dog, they will leave a yellow pamplet at the door with information about the ordinance that serves as a warning.

Schommer then addressed the topic of dangerous and vicious dogs including pit bulls and other dangerous breeds of dogs. He said that anybody that owns one of these dogs is required to meet specific kennel and restraint requirements and insurance requirements. He indicated that anybody that does not meet those requirements can be cited and can end up in court for the citation and answer to the penalties.

"We try to make sure people are educated about these things before we take action," said Schommer. "This is all about safety and all about maintaining a quality of life..."

"Any animal that has caused harm to somebody can be defined as vicious," said Schommer.

Schommer said pit bulls are not illegal to own, but that there are strong restrictions to owning them. He said he wants to make sure these owners not only safe guard themselves from liability, but also from the possibility of harming any local residents.

The Huber Heights Police Division received several calls regarding residents' vehicles being broken into and items taken from within the vehicles. The areas include the streets Robinview, Larchview in Beat 3. And the 4600 Block of Powell Road.

We urge you, as we have been doing all summer on our Facebook Page (accessible from the homepage or "front desk"), to NOT leave items of value visible in your cars. GPS units are very popular items to be stolen. But people have left laptop computers, cell phones, purses and other valuables visible in their cars. The thieves sneak around looking into cars and take advantage of this opportunity!

Remember CRIME PREVENTION RULE 101: If you remove the OPPORTUNITY, the ABILITY, or the DESIRE - no crime will occur!

If you have any questions, please contact any member of our staff through the "Contact" button on our homepage!

HHPD INVESTIGATES FELONY VANDALISM - BUILDING DESTROYED BY CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT!

HHPD is investigating a building that was destroyed by suspects using a very large frontloader near the quarry off of Wildcat Road. Over the past week, persons unknown did come across the equipment, got the frontloader started, and DESTROYED the building and the equipment in it!

Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to go back the home page and submit a crime tip by clicking on McGruff's picture - OR call the tip line at 237-3605!

Author Lt. Gerry Gustin June 2, 2009

CONGRATULATIONS TO OFFICER BILL WERTZ ON HIS RETIREMENT YESTERDAY! HE RETIRES AFTER 19 YEARS OF SERVICE ON THE JOB. BILL WAS INJURED IN 2007 ON THE JOB AND HAS BEEN THROUGH MANY SURGERIES. WE ALL WISH HIM GOOD LUCK AND HOPE THAT HE HEALS MORE THOROUGHLY!

OFFICER WERTZ PUT IN NEARLY TWO DECADES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE MIAMI VALLEY AND HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN MANY DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THIS JOB! HE IS A DEDICATED INDIVIDUAL, AND SEASONED VETERAN CRIME FIGHTER, A WONDERFUL HUSBAND AND FATHER!

The employees of Springcreek Rehab and Nursing Center in Huber Heights catered a large breakfast in for HHPD employees this morning. They did so as a celebration of National Nursing Home Week as a community outreach. We were proud to tell them that it is also National Peace Officer's Memorial Week and that the national event is going on right now in Washington DC and we have a delegation of police officers attending as we do every year.

The food was delicious and bountiful and we are VERY APPRECIATIVE for such a gesture!

HHPD BEGINS USING TWITTER AS AN EFFECTIVE MEANS OF KEEP OUR CITIZENS UP TO DATE...

The Huber Heights Police Division has started using www.twitter.com as a means of communicating new, trends, and announcements to the citizens they serve.

After extensive testing of many different programs, HHPD has decided that the two most often used social networking websites have a place in our community outreach. The police division's Public Affairs Unit will be overseeing the use of this technology and will endeavor to use it when it is necessary to alert our citizens of problems.

People signing up for twitter may also have updates sent to their cell phones if they wish - at no cost!

We at HHPD continue to research and test new technology and will utilize whatever we can to keep in touch with our residents! Please call the Public Affairs Unit at 237-3607 or 237-3556 with any input or questions you may have.

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE REMEMBER THAT IF YOU SIGN UP, THE CITY OF HUBER HEIGHTS, OHIO, THE HUBER HEIGHTS POLICE DIVISION, ANY EMPLOYEE, AGENT, OR VOLUNTEER SHALL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY COSTS INVOLVED IN YOUR PHONE RECEIVING A TEXT FROM THIS PROGRAM. IF YOU PAY-PER-TEXT ON YOUR CELL PHONE PLAN, WE SUGGEST YOU CAREFULLY CONSIDER WHETHER OR NOT YOU WISH TO SIGN UP IF IT WILL INCREASE YOUR BILL TO RECEIVE THE TEXT. YOU MAY HAVE YOUR NUMBER REMOVED AT ANY TIME BY NOTIFYING HHPD BY CLICKING ON THE TAB YOU USED TO SIGN UP (FROM THE HOME PAGE) AND IN THE EMAIL BOX - ENTER YOUR NAME, CELL PHONE NUMBER, AND THE WORD REMOVE, AND WE WILL REMOVE YOUR NUMBER FROM THE PROGRAM.

The week of April 12 to 18, 2009 is NATIONAL EMERGENCY DISPATCHER APPRECIATION WEEK and we will be observing it through the whole week.

On average, the police dispatchers of the Huber Heights Police Division’s Public Safety Communications Center handle over 70,000 calls for service. These calls range from very minor calls for service for our police officers or fire fighters and EMTs – to the most serious types of calls like house fires or shootings. That equates to, again on average, 190 calls for service per day. Most of the time there are two dispatchers on duty, sometimes there are three. But as of this date there are only 10 dispatchers total to cover every hour of every day. It is quite a daunting task, but our dispatchers handle the stress, the highs, the lows, the busy times, and the occasional boredom like true professionals.

The dispatchers with the Huber Heights Police Division’s Public Safety Communications Center are trained as CERTIFIED EMERGENCY MEDICAL AND EMERGENCY FIRE DISPATCHERS through the National Academies of Emergency Dispatching – which is actually an international organization. So when you call 911 with a medical or fire emergency in Huber Heights – you are not only getting assistance to your home or business – you are getting input, suggestions, and clear directions from the dispatcher on how to treat the situation until the Paramedics arrive or the Firefighters get there. We are one of the few centers in Ohio to use this system to its fullest extent and it is quite a challenge for the dispatchers. The true sign of the success of it is the safe and successful birthing of two children via instructions from our dispatchers over the phone – instead of just sending the medics – our dispatchers stay on the line and guide you through what you are going through! That’s just two examples of this system, but two mighty important ones!

I am very proud and wish to congratulate our dispatchers and recognize them this week and wish to share this week’s importance with the citizens and businesses of Huber Heights, Ohio. It is our wish that they all might take a moment to reflect on what a harrowing job dispatching can be, and how professionally our own dispatchers perform it right here in Huber Heights! 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – our dispatch center is OPEN and dispatchers are ON DUTY! NO matter your emergency – when you call 911 in Huber Heights – HELP IS ON THE WAY!

DISPATCHERS: Michele Schneider, Jennifer Rotterman, Roni Sayer, Stephanie Wunderlich, Tammie Bailey, Angie Richendollar, Argina Foor, Marianne Fletcher, Anita Waler, Amanda Rotterman, and Jalynn Winland (part time)

The Huber Heights Police Division is developing a service that will send you a text message on your phone each time this page of our website is updated!

Texting has taken over the world as a way of communicating and people of all ages are utilizing this technology to keep in touch. Why should your police department be any different?

We would like to send you a text each time we put information on this page. You can expect to be notified when we have news, current events involving the police department or city, crime trends we see developing, and even traffic problems within Huber Heights.

FIRST OF ALL - DO YOU LIVE OR WORK IN HUBER HEIGHTS? IF SO, THEN PROCEED TO STEP ONE:

Step 1 - Navigate to the homepage of our website and locate the button at the bottom of the page.

Step 2 - Click on the button - an email box will pop up. Enter your name, address, home phone number AND CELL PHONE NUMBER. Push the send button and it will be emailed to HHPD.

Step 3 - We will enter your number into our texting program. When we update the NEWS AND EVENTS page of our website - we'll send out a text on what the subject is. You will get this text - less than 120 characters - telling you what is going on and that there is more on the NEWS and EVENTS page of huberpolice.com

THIS PROGRAM IS NOT FULLY FUNCTIONAL AS OF THIS DATE - WE ARE BEGINNING OUR TESTING OF ITS ABILITIES. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SIGN UP STARTING TODAY. WE WILL LET THE COMMUNITY KNOW ON A LARGER SCALE WHEN WE HAVE IT UP AND RUNNING COMPLETELY.

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS - PLEASE CONTACT LT. GERRY GUSTIN 237-3582, OR AT gerald.gustin@ci.huber-heights.oh.us

Recently we have experienced a increase in our thefts from vehicles in shopping centers

On Saturday, November 17th, 2007, the Huber Heights Public Safety Communications Center was awarded full International Accreditation by a unanimous vote of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

On today’s date at 1952hrs. the Huber Heights Police Division responded to 6381 Rolling Glen Drive on a disorderly complaint. When officers arrived they were told by a neighbor that they just heard two gunshots. The responding officers could hear arguing coming from the residence and cautiously made contact. It was at this time officers learned that a fourteen year old female had been wounded during the dispute. Huber Heights Medics arrived and removed the victim

On Friday September 28, 2007 at 4:00p.m. the Huber Heights Police Division received a call concerning a two vehicle crash at the intersection of Northbound Rt. 4 and Lower Valley Pike.

The suspect from both of our recent abductions in our city has been apprehended.

News / Current Events / Crime Trends