Austintown Township Trustees swear in three new police officers
Members of the Austintown Township Trustees met on Monday to conduct a regular meeting.
At that meeting, various topics were brought under consideration, including the hiring of three new police officers for the Austintown Township Police Department.
A motion to approve the hiring of Drew Smith, pictured above on the left, Katlyn Klasic, pictured above in the center, and Justin Whitaker, pictured above on the right, was accepted.
All three were then sworn in as police officers for the department.
Now, the newly sworn-in officers will spend the next three to four months training, according to Austintown Township Police Department Chief Valorie Delmont.
Chief Delmont says that the hiring of the new officers is part of a police levy that passed on the November 5, 2025, ballot.
That levy will generate $2 million for the department.
"That is part of the promise we made with the levy passing that we would increase the number of officers on patrol so that we could adequately serve the township," said Delmont.
At its highest, the department had 43 officers serving the community. However, in 2025, the department began the year with 39 officers and ended it with 31.
With the hiring of Smith, Klasic and Whitaker, she says that the department now has 34 officers.
"That is significantly lower than we have worked with in the past and the lowest [it has] been in a good number of years," said Delmont.
Delmont continues by saying that the department had to bring people back to patrol from areas like the task force and the detectives division. The three new officers will help distribute that work more evenly.
"We are still accepting applications. We are still short-staffed; we would like to get up to 37 to 39 officers, and having 34 puts us a good way there, but we are still accepting applications," said Delmont.
Delmont speculates that the department could hire up to two new officers by the end of the summer.
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