Officers honored by Safe Communities

BY DEE RILEY
Gazette Newspapers

ROME TOWNSHIP – On Wednesday, Oct. 15, the Rome Fire Station was filled with uniforms – law-enforcement uniforms.
They came from Ashtabula City, Conneaut, Geneva, Orwell, Geneva-on-the-Lake, Andover, Roaming Shores, the Sheriff’s Department, and the State Highway Patrol.
Ashtabula County officers had gathered for a recognition banquet through Ashtabula County Safe Communities in their honor.
Ashtabula County Safe Communities is a traffic safety organization comprised of safety forces and community members whose goal is to promote traffic safety.
Each officer was chosen by their chief or lieutenants to be recognized for their outstanding service.
Mary Yoder’s in Middlefield supplied a festive meal with all the trimmings and dessert.
Judge David Schroeder was the guest speaker for the event.
“There is a need to have treatment and solutions in addition to incarceration for noncompliance. I have the tough job of finding the right time length of their stay and trying to find the right punishment for the crime…and there should be atonement and consequences for the crime. My wife and I have 50 years in this profession. I have a job to do and it needs to be done. I don’t control the time frame. I commend all the law-enforcement officials for their excellent job and appreciate their efforts to keep the community safe,” said Judge Schroeder.
Sandra Pulsifer, with Ashtabula County Safe Communities, promoting road safety and reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the county, and a paramedic, started the banquets on her own in 2003 as a way to reach out and honor the officers.
Some years the event has been at restaurants, but she prefers catering since a head count is not critical and more families can attend.
Also at the event, Geneva students were in the INSPIRE program, which required input and a mission statement and earned them recognition from State Rep. David Thomas, U.S. Congressman David Joyce, Ohio Senator Sandra O’Brien and presented by Commissioner Casey Kozlowski on behalf of the Ashtabula County Commissioners.
Jefferson Area High School Principal Richard Shields led a SMASH program, Striving to Make a Safer Highway, with Jefferson students.
The law-enforcement crowd had a great meal, camaraderie with other officials, and a very safe evening thanks to the Rome Fire Department and their hospitality.