Three officers due to be sworn in

CHESAPEAKE — The village of Chesapeake is hoping to fill vacancies in the police force, following a number of resignations last month, including police chief Lenny Abrams.

Council member Paul Hart said four individuals have expressed interest in the position.

Three potential officers, one full-time and two part-time, were due to be sworn in at Monday night’s council meeting. However, Mayor Tommy Templeton was not present, so council members decided to hold off on the matter until he returned.

The department has been understaffed, after Abrams and two officers resigned last month, following disagreements with Templeton.

Hart, who, as mayor pro tempore, ran Monday night’s meeting, said the officers. Mike Ferguson, Cody Grohoski and Brandon Cohrane, would be sworn in as soon as possible.

The department has also been affected by the hospitalization of full-time officer Aaron Christian, who remains in critical condition, following a crash in his cruiser two weeks ago.

The council voted to lease one of the fire department’s radios to the police department for two weeks, until the unit damaged in Christian’s cruise can be replaced.

Hart concluded the meeting by stating that Christian has shown improvement over the past week.

“I’d like to thank the whole county on how well they’ve taken care of him,” he said. “And for all the prayers. Our prayers are with him, and let’s hope he can come out of it and walk through that door again someday. I’d like to thank everyone for their care of him.”

In other business, the council:

• Voted 6-0 to finalize transfer of the closed Park Drive to a resident.

• Discussed stepping in to help with Operation TLC work, following the death of founder Billy Smith.

• Sat the village’s Trick-or-Treat time for 6-7:30 p.m. on Oct. 31.