MOUNT VERNON — Six more Mount Vernon firefighters recently graduated from paramedic school.
“With those six, we have one more to send. He’ll start medic school the end of August,” fire Chief Chad Christopher said. “So out of 48 full-timers, 47 will be cross-trained as firefighter paramedics. That’s a good thing.”
Three of the graduates passed their national registry test and are in their training phase; the others are in the process of testing.
The medical training includes four tiers: EMR, EMT, EMT, and paramedic. The city pays for the paramedic training.
“One of the big things we’re working on right now is we’re working on completing a fire department strategic plan for 2026 through 2029,” Christopher said, adding he will contact township trustees and other stakeholders for input.
“We’re doing a SWOT analysis, so they’ll be receiving some data to get back to us.”
A SWOT analysis is a strategic tool used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project.
Christopher reported no major incidents with fireworks over the holiday. He reminded residents that fireworks are legal this weekend, too, as well as Labor Day Weekend.
The annual fan drive is underway. The fans will go to Interchurch Social Services and The Salvation Army. Fans must be new and can be dropped off at the 200 W. Gambier St. station.
Residents who need a fan can visit Interchurch, 306 W. Gambier St., or The Salvation Army, 205 E. Ohio Ave.
The department responded to 532 EMS and fire calls in June, bringing the year’s total to 3,229.
The department received a $1,200 EMS Priority 1 grant for EMS equipment. A $4,000 donation by Elks Lodge #40 enables the department to buy a specialized fast board and safety markings for helmets.
Grants submitted include a fire prevention and safety grant for an electronic fire extinguisher.
MVPD
The Mount Vernon Police Department graduated its first class (11 members) from the Citizens Police Academy.
“Everybody seemed to have a good time and said we imparted a lot of good knowledge to them about the police department,” Police Chief Robert Morgan said.
“I think it’s going to be a great program in the future. We’re going to try to have one or two of them a year, depending on interest.”
The department will begin the next class in early 2026.
Additionally, the MVPD plans to start a Boy Scout Explorer program for middle and high school students. Sgt. Nicholas Myrda, community division supervisor, will oversee the program.
“So we’ll have a a police department outreach program for adults in the Citizens Police Academy and young adults, teenagers in the explorers program,” Morgan said.
“It’s not just about cops pulling people over and writing tickets and arresting people. It’s about integrating the police department into the community and more aspects than just, ‘Here come the cops.’”
Grants
The MVPD applied for several Justice Administration Grants (JAG). One is for use-of-force simulation training equipment, the other to continue the department’s license plate reader cameras (Flock cameras).
The cameras are not traffic enforcement cameras.
“We’ve had good success with those. The Flock Camera system is a good system, and we would like to expand it.”
Mount Vernon police chief robert morgan
He also noted that the cameras installed on lights at intersections are sensor detectors, not cameras.
“We just found out last night, we don’t know a lot of details yet, that we got awarded a $50,000 grant from the state of Ohio, the attorney general’s office, for the Drug Abuse Response Team,” the chief said.
The DART team includes drug interdiction detectives, the prosecutor’s office, the court treatment team, and the community advocate.
Miscellaneous
A third K-9 will join the MVPD in the next few weeks. The department has purchased the dog; the company that initially trains the dog, Storm Dog Tactical, is in Europe, picking up the puppies.
Lt. Rex Young is bringing officers up to date on in-house training to comply with state mandates. The state reimburses training dollars to the city.
Morgan said that for medium-sized departments like Mount Vernon, the time spent in mandatory training creates a burden on staffing and overtime.
“We figured the best way to do it is do it in-house, so Rex puts the courses together. … We submit it to the state, they give their stamp of approval on the training course, and then we can teach it and we get credit for that,” Morgan explained.
“So the more we can do it in-house, the more we save taxpayer money,” he said. “And then we get those training dollars back that we reinvest in the program, so that’s been really good.”
Jackie Nauman is in her second week with the MVPD as a patrol officer on the day shift. She is undergoing her field training.
When Nauman is trained and ready for the streets, the department will fill the second drug interdiction detective that city council members recently approved.
The MVPD responded to 1,481 calls for service in June. That included about 570 traffic stops, 27 each juvenile-related and theft, 22 domestic violence, and one fatal overdose.
Officers also served 31 warrants.
Morgan reported no major incidents with fireworks but said the department received a few calls because many people are unaware that fireworks are now legal.
Administration
Safety-service Director Tanner Salyers said the city filed for $21,000 of unclaimed funds. The funds date to the mid-1990s when the Cooper Corp. paid dividends to the city.
Salyers said whatever the city recovers, it will appropriate it for levy repair and maintenance.
The city is “full steam ahead” on the detailed design for the new police station. City officials contracted and met with the designers, BKB. The firm will also design the municipal court, resulting in savings.
Salyers said discussions have begun with Pizzutti Solutions regarding the east end fire station. MKC Architects visited the COTC building on Wednesday.
