Fostoria OK d to expand hunt for new police chief

11/10/2005

TIFFIN A judge refused yesterday to prevent Fostoria from considering external candidates to lead the city s police department.

In his four-page ruling, Judge Steve Shuff of Seneca County Common Pleas Court denied a request for a preliminary injunction against the city that was filed by the Ohio Patrolmen s Benevolent Association, which represents command officers in the Fostoria Police Department.

Judge Shuff found that the union has failed so far to present sufficient evidence that the city s civil service commission violated state law by suspending a rule that required the chief s job to be filled from within the department.

A hearing on a lawsuit filed against the civil service commission by the association is scheduled for Dec. 13 before Judge Shuff.