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New East Liverpool officer’s duties limited until he can go back to school

EAST LIVERPOOL — The city’s newest patrolman is currently performing limited duties after it was learned he has to obtain additional training in this state.

Patrolman James “Tony” Savina was sworn Sept. 13 as a full-time officer and had been working a regular schedule until Chief John Lane learned three weeks later from the Ohio Police Officers Training Academy (OPOTA) that it does not consider his former training in the state of West Virginia adequate for working in Ohio.

Lane said after Savina passed the city’s required Civil Service exam for patrolman, he decided to hire him and called OPOTA to inquire what, if any, additional training he would need, since Savina completed his police officer training with the West Virginia State Police Academy.

He had been working for more than a year as a patrolman in Weirton, W.Va., at the time of the test in East Liverpool and also had earned a degree at Youngstown State University.

Lane said officials at OPOTA advised him that information would not be provided until he actually hired Savina.

“‘We don’t even look at it until you hire,’ is exactly what I was told,” Lane said, adding, “I didn’t think it could possibly be that bad, so I hired him and sent them everything (regarding Savina’s training).”

Lane thought Savina might have to pick up a class here or there and that he could do so at various locations, but after hiring the officer, was advised Savina will actually need 338 hours of additional training in Ohio.

“That’s almost the entire academy he needs. That’s ridiculous,” Lane said, adding, “The West Virginia State Police Academy is tough. It’s not like it’s fly-by-night. And, except for the difference in Ohio and West Virginia laws, it’s all the same training. How you handle people is all the same.”

Lane was able to reach an agreement with one of Kent State University’s branches to work with the city to enroll Savina into an academy which has already begun for this year, offering to pay extra to have instructors help him “catch up” any classes he had missed.

According to Lane, officials at OPOTA, however, advised Savina must take the classes in order, meaning he will have to wait until the next academy begins.

“So, what do I do with him (in the meantime)?” Lane pondered, since without the OPOTA training, Savina has no arrest powers in this state.

Since learning of this snafu, Lane has had the officer – who, he pointed out, took the same classes in West Virginia for 36 hours that require 40 in Ohio, was a police officer riding on his own in West Virginia and holds a criminal justice degree – walking defendants to court and dispatching instead of on the street.

“I can’t believe the state of Ohio is making it this difficult,” Lane lamented. “Why not just tell me this in the first place? If they had just said up front what was needed, I could have gotten him into an academy right away.”

Service-Safety Director Brian Allen agreed, saying, “In this day and age, it’s tough to get young people to come into this profession. For the state to make it more difficult is asinine.”

Allen has been in contact with state Rep. Tim Ginter, asking for his help and said, “He’s investigating it.”

Saying that Savina is “worth waiting for,” Lane said he can’t choose another officer from the remaining Civil Service test list to fill the void since none of those have completed their police training, either.

“Everyone on the Civil Service test list is inexperienced. There are good candidates, just no one has completed the academy. There are a couple in (training), but they wouldn’t be done until, at the very soonest, June,” Lane explained.

Compounding the problem of having Savina off the street is the announcement last week that Detective Greg Smith is also leaving as of Nov. 1 to take a position with another department, meaning not only the loss of the city’s sole detective but another officer to answer calls.

Lane said he will “make adjustments” as needed but declined to offer specifics at this time.

jgilbert@mojonews.com

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