The cities of Centerville, Germantown, Kettering, Miamisburg, Moraine, Oakwood, Springboro, and West Carrollton formed the Tactical Crime Suppression Unit (TCSU) in order to pool resources and work collectively to address crime problems from a regional perspective. Criminals tend to work across jurisdictional boundaries. They do not stop committing crimes at a city’s corporation line. Law enforcement officers are provided the authority to investigate crimes within any of the TCSU cities through pre-existing agreements. This cooperative venture has resulted in many criminals being apprehended and successfully prosecuted through the efforts of the best and brightest law enforcement investigators from each of the member cities.

Putting criminals behind bars was just the start of cooperative ventures that have saved taxpayers thousands of dollars. TCSU has evolved to the point that cities are sharing personnel and equipment in very specialized ways. While it may not be economically feasible or prudent for a single agency to have specialized services and equipment, collectively we have been able to build an infrastructure of interagency cooperation that allows us to achieve significant tax savings for citizens of TCSU cities. Below are examples of these success stories:

Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)

Kettering Police Department formed a SWAT team many years ago to respond to hostage barricade incidents or to apprehend violent felons. In order to add manpower and spread costs, the other TCSU cities joined the Kettering team under the auspices of TCSU.

Training

The TCSU training committee chooses law enforcement issues that require specialized training and then selects highly qualified instructors to provide training to member cities to address these needs. On average, TCSU trains the equivalent of over 400 officers each year, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars as the training is conducted locally and forgoes the expense of travel, lodging and food.

Polygraph

TCSU has trained polygraphists and provides them the latest in polygraph equipment and training. This allows member agencies to have access to polygraphists who conduct criminal and pre-employment examinations, saving thousands of dollars in outside fees for this type of service.

The Centerville Police Department has one certified polygraphist on staff. Officer Nadia Dexter conducts polygraph examinations for all eight TCSU cities and criminal polygraph examinations for any law enforcement agency that require such services. Types of examinations can range from the most serious, such as murder and rape, to witness/informant testing and pre-employment polygraphs.

Technical Equipment

TCSU has been able to procure technical equipment that is available to every agency for a variety of specialized investigations and has trained individuals on how to operate this equipment.

Grants

The fact that regional cooperation is readily evident within TCSU allows us to obtain grants to pay for equipment to enhance a police officer's ability to carry out their duties in an efficient and effective manner. For example, TCSU proposed a grant to fund electronic traffic citations and card swipe program. This allows officers to electronically prepare traffic citations which are wirelessly transmitted to Kettering Municipal Court. This program has saved thousands of hours of time consuming work by clerks at Kettering Municipal Court.

Investigative Unit

Citizens of Centerville and the other member cities of TCSU should recognize that in the event of a serious crime in the southern suburbs, the resources of multiple police departments as well as highly trained and dedicated investigators can be brought to bear on the case. TCSU is an outstanding example of regional cooperation at its finest.