10/02/2026
Community Update:
Over the past seven months, much of the work taking place inside the Canton Police Department has happened behind the scenes.
Some of that work has involved visible changes. Much of it has involved evaluating systems, strengthening accountability, rebuilding internal processes, and creating a stronger foundation for the future.
Since February, we have:
• Rebuilt parts of our command structure and clarified leadership responsibilities.
• Strengthened supervisory expectations, internal accountability, notification procedures, and complaint review.
• Begun a department-wide self-assessment focused on reviewing and modernizing policies, procedures, training, and organizational practices.
• Significantly tightened oversight of Flock/ALPR technology, including restricting access, removing federal data-sharing access, and implementing additional auditing and administrative review.
• Continued rebuilding staffing while managing promotions, retirements, resignations, recruitment, academy personnel, and day-to-day operational needs.
• Conducted extensive reviews of overtime, staffing models, scheduling, fleet needs, capital planning, and long-term departmental finances.
• Advanced modernization of critical department systems, including CAD/RMS, policy management, technology access controls, CJIS redundancy, and employee onboarding processes.
• Expanded targeted traffic enforcement based on data, resident concerns, crash history, and officer observations.
• Increased communication with the public on issues involving traffic, technology, public safety, department operations, and community concerns.
• Begun new community-engagement initiatives, including our quarterly Breakfast with the Chief in partnership with Diane Tynan and The Council on Aging.
Not every improvement is immediately visible from outside the police department. Organizational change often begins with evaluating how decisions are made, how employees are supervised, how technology is governed, how money is spent, and whether existing policies and systems meet the standards our community should expect.
There is still significant work ahead.
Our goal is not simply to make changes for the sake of change. It is to build systems that are sustainable, accountable, professional, and worthy of the public’s trust.
We will continue evaluating where we are, communicating where we are going, and holding ourselves accountable for the progress we make.
Learning from the Past. Building the Future.
