Office of the Chief of Police

News Release

To Be Released Immediately: Contact Persons:
Captain Bill Engle 440-204-2544
February 24, 2010 Lieutenant Jim Rohner 440-204-2189

In late October, 2009 the Lorain Police Department created a special task force to address the city’s escalating violence that resulted in several deaths and dozens of shootings; investigating officers had been hampered by a growing reluctance of victims and witnesses to come forward. The internal task force was comprised of all units of the Operations Bureau, including Patrol Operations, the Criminal Investigations Division, Narcotics/Special Investigations Unit, the Street Crimes Unit, and the newly developed Criminal Intelligence function with assistance from the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office. The operation was carried out under the auspices, and utilizing the strategies, of the Northern Ohio Violent Crime Consortium (NOVCC). This strategy focuses on guns, gangs, and drug trafficking.

Captain Bill Engle served as Commander of the Task Force and he was assisted by Lieutenant Jim Rohner, Lieutenant Jim McCann, and Sergeant Ed Super. The Lorain Police officers and detectives did an outstanding job of working together and sharing information. The key to their success, however, was implementation of a new strategy that emphasized the analysis of crime patterns, identifying repeat offenders, and then concentrating on their activities and associations. The results were presented to the Lorain County Grand Jury one week ago and resulted in secret indictments against 21 individuals with charges ranging from drug trafficking to murder.

On February 23, 2010, Lorain Police Department Patrol Officers, Detectives, and SWAT Team, with the assistance of the Lorain County Sheriff’s Department, the Lorain County Drug Task Force, the U.S. Marshal’s Violent Fugitive Task Force, and the Lorain County Adult Probation and Parole, fanned out to execute the arrest warrants. They were extremely successful: 20 of the individuals were arrested (Photos).

Chief Cel Rivera said: “The Lorain Police officers who worked on this operation did a wonderful job. We have a great relationship with NOVCC and our law enforcement partners and it is great to see it in action. Violence imposes a heavy burden on a community, and gun violence takes a particularly heavy toll. We know that this violence is usually concentrated among groups of serious offenders, and remarkably clustered among high risk youth in high risk places at high risk times; this investigation is ongoing and we will continue to focus our energy on this specific phenomena.”

During the course of this investigation, 4 other individuals were arrested on various charges, 4 search warrants were executed, 5 firearms,1,626 grams of marijuana, 148 grams of powder cocaine, and 42 grams of crack cocaine were seized along with $3700.00 in cash.

Police are still seeking to arrest:

ARTIS TAYLOR III 24 3861 W. ERIE AVE. LORAIN

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Artis Taylor can contact the Lorain Police Department Detective Bureau at 440-204-2105.

Anonymous Tips can be submitted 3 ways: By phone to 440-204-2555, By Text-A-Tip by texting the key work “Lorain” and your message to 274637 (CRIMES) or by visiting the Lorain Police Department Web Site at wwwlorainpolice.com and clicking on the WebTip link.