BELLAIRE — Police Chief J.J. Watson discussed the several donations made to the police department this month along with the continuing staffing issues at the Bellaire Village Council meeting on Thursday.

“We had four metal shelving units that were donated to us for the evidence rooms,” he said.

Watson said that the department also received a $300 Harbor Freight gift card.

“We were able to purchase breaching tools, tools, shelves and actual rubber gloves, not the food prep gloves that were bought for us last time,” he said.

Watson said that American Legion Post 52 donated $1,000, and Bellaire Veterans Of Foreign Wars donated an additional $1,000. Watson said that the department has also received a citizen donation of $100. He said that Steve Palmer, a Bellaire resident, donated three vests and three helmets. Pine Belt Energy Services of Bellaire donated $429.98 which purchased another ballistic helmet and another vest.

Watson said that overall, the donations have provided the police department with much-needed supplies.

“Now each cruiser in use is equipped with a medical supply kit, supply bag, stop the bleed kit, breaching tools, fire extinguisher, ballistic helmet, active shooter entry vest and a go bag with extra ammo — all things that the police department should have in the back of their cruisers at their access. We are finally getting to the point where we are prepared and we are giving our officers every tool that they need to succeed,” he said.

Watson said that the department also recently received funds from a grant through the Elks association. He said that he applied for the grant in April, and the department recently purchased magazine pouches and a rifle-rated ballistic shield with the funding.

Watson said that the department is still facing staffing issues. He said that the police department is down to four full-time officers.

He said that the village has been advertising positions available for months.

“We’ve had no applicants,” he said.

He explained that applicants must be state certified and pass the police academy to be considered for the open positions.

Clerk of Council Mary Hagiloizou said that the positions are posted on Indeed and OhioMeansJobs.com, but she has not received any applications from qualified candidates.

Mike Doyle, councilman at large, suggested that the village could offer to help pay for a prospective police officer to attend the police academy. Watson said he agreed with Doyle but said that he does not have a prospective police officer in mind and he is not sure where the money would come from.

Council plans to discuss the issue further and keep an eye out for potential candidates.

Watson also said that he has noticed an issue that many residents post complaints or legal matters on Facebook instead of making official complaints.

“There’s a process. If it doesn’t come across my desk, it doesn’t get done, simple as that,” Watson said.

Watson encouraged residents to call the police department or the mayor’s office to make an official complaint.

“If you have time to post it on Facebook, you have time to report the issue,” he said.

Watson said that a crew from 60 Minutes could possibly be coming to film in Bellaire regarding a 1979 case. Watson said that the crew would be talking to him along with a couple of retired officers.

“It’s in the preliminary stages, I talked to someone in Columbus, Ohio, about it. Like I told him, I said, I’ve never personally known about it. I was 3 years old in 1979, so I don’t know anything about it,” he said.

“I was 3 at the time, so I personally don’t know much about the case,” he said.

Elizabeth Dugmore, council at large, thanked Watson for his hard work and thanked everyone who made donations to the police department.

In other news, Janet Richardson, councilwoman at large, said that she recently attended an ordinance committee meeting. She said that the committee is currently looking at old ordinances to see which ones need to be rescinded. Richardson said that some ordinances are from the 1950s and 1960s and may be outdated.

“I was thinking that every month we could look at 10 or so at a time,” she said.

Jerry Olack, councilman at large, said that the village is looking into getting security cameras installed at the park. Doyle said that he wonders if the village could apply for grants to help pay for the cameras. The council plans to look into possible grants for the project.