Among those sworn in, from left to right, were Cpl. Scott Taylor Jr., Officer Ryan McDonald, Officer Andriy Zazulya, Officer Thomas Lada, Officer Jacob Raines and Officer Roy Bunnich.
By: Gena Johnson | Warren Weekly | Published March 3, 2023
WARREN — Wearing dress uniforms and led by a bagpipe-playing officer, the Warren Police Department Honor Guard filed into Woodside Bible Church in Warren to begin the promotion and appointment ceremony on Feb. 24.
“Today, I get to do what is the best part of my job,” said Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer.
Some of Warren’s finest were celebrated for their new roles within the department and sworn in to serve in their new positions. Each person honored came on stage and said a few words. Emotions ranged from ebullient to holding back tears. Many of the honorees thanked their family, the Warren Police Department, Mayor James Fouts and the Warren City Council.
“Warren Police Department is the destination police department in the area,” said Dwyer.
According to the commissioner, the strengths of the department include the pension and benefits, working conditions and pay.
“We offer collateral pay when you come in from another (police) department. We match wherever you’re at as far as years of service,” said Dwyer. “The most important (thing) is the young officers today want the 12-hour shifts. We offer the 12-hour shifts and some (police) departments do not.”
The department also allows nicely groomed facial hair, said Dwyer.
When asked, with the recent promotions, where does this leave the department in terms of positions needing to be filled, Dwyer said, “We have a few open positions. We just finalized a new list of hiring police officers or the personnel who have applied. They went through the process and now they are in the background investigation (phase).
“We will probably be filling all the vacancies in the next 30 days,” Dwyer said.