MOUNT VERNON — In his quarterly address to Mount Vernon City Council on Monday, Police Chief Robert Morgan said numbers are down, and prosecutions are up.
Of the 167 indictments thus far this year, 97 drug indictments were pushed up to felony court:
•F2 – 9
•F3 – 10
•F4 – 5
•F5 – 73
The fifth-degree felonies are the possession and small trafficking charges.
“My folks are doing a tremendous job trying to stem the flow of drugs into the community,” Morgan said.
The department has seized more than 470 grams of methamphetamine and 842 grams of marijuana. Fentanyl accounts for nearly 50 grams, cocaine 14.63 grams, and heroin 3.8 grams.
Regarding the fentanyl, the chief said, “That’s a scary one. If that was pure fentanyl, that’s enough to kill everybody in the city of Mount Vernon twice.”
Morgan said that locally as well as statewide, meth is the drug of choice with fentanyl a close second.
“It used to be they’d lace meth with fentanyl. Now, to give it a little kick, we are finding a lot of people are using straight fentanyl, which is getting a little scary,” he told council.
Officers also confiscated 17 guns and $2,498 in cash.
The indictments include an aggravated murder charge for Terry Barker in the May 2022 homicide of Paul Williams at Ariel-Foundation Park.
“That was a very long, very drawn-out, labor-intensive investigation,” Morgan said, adding that the department took a lot of grief for not talking about the case. “That was a combined decision of mine, the prosecutor’s office, and BCI. I know that was frustrating for some people, but it’s an investigative tool we utilize to help us.”
Personnel
Two of the three new officer positions council authorized are filled. Both are lateral transfers. Two spots remain vacant.
“We have had tremendous problems getting qualified recruits to come to the City of Mount Vernon, but we’re not the only ones,” Morgan said. “The competition for good recruits is at an all-time high.”
The department has two finalists for the domestic violence/sexual assault liaison position. Sarah Wheeler recently received the Thomas Bartlett Award.
Traffic
Officers have handled 440 traffic crashes. Traffic stops number 3,416; officers issued 1,316 citations and 650 warnings.
“Our traffic program is working very well,” Morgan said. “We have one on days and one on nights now focused primarily on traffic enforcement.
“Our day shift guy has been very diligent in working with our school zones now that school’s back in session to keep people slowed down in our school zones.”
Miscellaneous
The department fields about 44 calls per day (10,760 year-to-date). Calls include 142 domestic violence and 26 rape/sex offense.
PAK United held numerous events throughout the summer involving around 100 youth. Donations exceed $6,000, and the program is entirely community-funded.
Two new cruisers are being outfitted. A cruiser which was in an accident will be replaced next year.
The department’s K-9 program received a $5,000 donation from the Ohio Eastern Star Service Dog Program. The money will go toward offsetting costs of a new police K-9 in 2024.
K-9 Laya will turn 9 years old in March 2024 and will be retired in spring 2024. After retiring, Laya will stay with her officer.
“The handlers and trainers give us guidance when to replace them,” Morgan said. “With that $5,000 donation, we are about one third of the way there to a new K-9.”
