By GLEN WERLING
Members of the Ossian Board of Metropolitan Police Commissioners are considering using Wells County deputy sheriffs to fill in gaps in the Ossian Police Department shift schedules.
Currently Brian McClish is the only full-time officer on the department and he is serving as the interim police chief. The department is relying on part-time officers, like former full-time officer Russ Mounsey, to fill in the gaps McClish cannot cover.
The Ossian Town Council would like to see full 24-7-365 coverage for the town, said Dennis Ealing, an Ossian Town Council member who serves as the council’s liaison to the police commissioners.
However, he also understood that would be difficult to achieve — and McClish added — has never been achieved in McClish’s 19-plus years on the force.
Chichester explained to fellow board member Bob Miller, Ealing and McClish that he had spoken with Wells County Sheriff Scott Holliday about the possibility of having a dedicated deputy stationed in town during the times that cannot be covered by McClish or the part-time officers.
The deputy would be paid the sheriff’s department salary rate. The rate would vary based upon what the deputy is earning from the sheriff’s department plus an overtime rate. The sheriff’s department would seek volunteers to work the extra time in Ossian. The pay would be drawn from the Ossian Police Department salary budget.
“Obviously our salary budget is underutilized right now since we only have one full-time officer,” Chichester said.
The deputy would be wearing a sheriff’s department uniform and use a sheriff’s department vehicle while covering the town, he added.
The difference between a deputy who is just on duty for the sheriff’s department and one who is dedicated to covering the town, Miller explained, would be the deputy would only respond to calls in or in the vicinity of Ossian — the same as Ossian police officers have done for years.
McClish pointed out that the town is already covered by the sheriff’s department when there is no one available from the Ossian department to work — and the town is not compensating the county for that coverage.
The problem, Ealing replied, is that without a deputy stationed in Ossian, if a deputy responds to a call in Bluffton or further south in the county and needs backup, the other deputy (or deputies) on duty will respond to provide that backup. Ealing asked what happens in Ossian, then, if police presence is needed in town and the deputies are all 20 minutes or further away?
After considerable discussion, Chichester and Miller agreed to have Chichester take the recommendation that the town pay for a dedicated sheriff’s deputy in Ossian to the Ossian Town Council and seek the members’ approval to implement the program.
Then, the commissioners will wait a month until McClish can compile information on how well the town is being covered by him and the part-time officers. Any gaps that need to be filled by a dedicated deputy would be decided by McClish.
In other business, Chichester and Miller:
• Reorganized the board as required by law at the beginning of every year. Chichester stays the board chairman, Miller remains the vice-chair. There is no secretary as Stan Reed chose not to be reappointed to the board. The board is looking to fill Reed’s open position. Contact the Ossian Town Hall at 622-4251 for more information.
• Learned from McClish that new part-time officer hiree Scott Adam is ready to start training with a field officer. He will do so with Mounsey starting Jan. 12. Both McClish and Mounsey will be getting Adam up to speed on the Ossian Department’s standard operating procedures. Adam has considerable prior experience as a police officer in both Fort Wayne and New Haven.
• Agreed to suspend the monthly mileage and overtime reports that were provided to the board by former Police Chief David Rigney, who retired at the end of the year. Interim chief Brian McClish is still working out how to compose those reports. The board members also agreed to postpone the yearly report of activities for 2022. “If it’s not needed for the operation of the department, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Chichester said. McClish reported that he is picking up on the things he needs to know for the day-to-day operation of the department. “It’s busy, but it’s going OK,” McClish said. “Obviously I am putting in more hours a day than I normally would,” McClish said. He also continues to work as a patrol officer. He added that Mounsey has been a big help.
• Learned from Chichester that none of the applicants for the full-time officer positions that are open passed the most recent testing cycle. One of the promising applicants did not complete the process of providing information to the Ossian department in the three-week time period he was given. “He had 21 days to finish his information and he has not done it. Now he’s locked out of the system,” McClish said. McClish tried to contact him but he has received no response. He plans to call the candidate again. Miller encouraged McClish to do that because computer problems in the past have created delays in the application process. However, McClish pointed out if that was the case, the candidate could have contacted him and he has not.
• Agreed to delay the process for now in seeking more applications for the full-time officers positions.
• Hired Desmond Carter, a full-time sheriff’s deputy, to serve as a part-time officer on the OPD pending the completion of all paperwork the town requires for the hiring process. “He’s a good deputy and I’m ready to bring him on,” McClish said of Carter. He will be working either Mondays or Tuesdays for the time being, McClish added.
• Learned from McClish that a Wells County native and current full-time Jay County Sheriff’s Department deputy, Tre Nusbaumer, who is moving back to Bluffton, would like to fill a part-time position on the Ossian force. “I spoke with him today and he would like to be part-time,” McClish said.
• Granted Mounsey permission to use an Ossian police vehicle as a take-home vehicle.
McClish also agreed to start driving the new, unmarked chief’s vehicle to keep it moving and will be using the chief’s office. Mounsey, who works the most as a part-time officer, will be working out of former Sgt. Stephanie Tucker’s office.
Tucker resigned her position Jan. 1 after she was elected as a member of the Ossian Town Council in November.
glenw@news-banner.com
