Chief Michael Harnishfeger
Chief Harnishfeger is a 39-year veteran of Ohio law enforcement having served over 30 years as a police chief and currently serving as the police chief in Ada, Ohio which has been named Ohio's 7th Safest City. Chief Harnishfeger is a graduate of the Police Executive Leadership College in 1996, was designated as a Certified Law Enforcement Executive in 2001, graduated from the 235th Session of the FBI National Academy in 2008 and the Rural Executive Management Institute in 2011. Chief Harnishfeger is active in the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police and served as president of the OACP from October 2010 to September 2011. Chief Harnishfeger led the charge from 2010 through 2017 to mandate training for every new police chief in Ohio. In 2018 Governor Kasich of Ohio signed the law which requires every new police chief to undergo training within the first 6-months of his or her appointment.
During Chief Harnishfeger's career he invented and implemented S.A.F.E.R. (Seeking Aid From Every Resident). This community policing initiative was implemented shortly after the 9/11 attacks on our nation in an attempt to emphasize the importance of community partnerships and community interactions to assist local law enforcement in the fight against crime and nuisance activity. S.A.F.E.R. won an Ohio Crime Prevention Award for Community Policing Initiatives in 2002 and was a finalist for the Government Security News Innovative Strategy for 2012. In 2013 S.A.F.E.R. won the Inaugural "I Contribute" to a SAFER Ohio by the Director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
In 1996 Chief Harnishfeger invented and implemented Project S.E.C.U.R.E. (Seeking the Elimination of Crime by Uniting Residents and Enforcement). This program is responsible for significant reductions in apartment complex calls for service and crime. Project S.E.C.U.R.E. was the winner of the first ever Governor’s Community Policing Award of Excellence for Problem Solving Strategies in 1997 and has received national recognition by being published in the National Crime Prevention Council’s 150 Tested Strategies to Prevent Crime from Small Cities, Counties and Rural Communities.
Chief Harnishfeger is also invented and implemented the C.L.E.A.N. Team (Compliance through Law Enforcement and Administrative Notices). In order to solve a problem of inefficiency in communication between enforcement agencies, the C.L.E.A.N. Team was formed to bring agencies together on a weekly basis to identify properties that needed intervention. The concept gained countywide recognition and has been called a model for other communities by our county health commissioner.
Chief Harnishfeger believes that quality service to the public comes through dedication and continuous education. Professional Training Concepts was formed to provide excellent training opportunities for our officers, supervisors and chiefs which in turn will translate into quality service to the public.