She said for years, her good friend and former police officer Harvey Poff “nagged” her to write a book about the “war stories” within the police department. Mort talked with then police Chief Rodney Muterspaw who gave her access to many of the city’s police officers and support stuff.
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The end result in the book: “They tell their tales,” she said.
According to the book, the City of Middletown was incorporated in 1833 and the first marshal was appointed one year later with a salary of $5 per month. In 1838 a temporary jail was built by the city at a cost of approximately $10. It was the first building built by the City of Middletown, according to the book.
In 1882 the police department was officially organized and the first police chief was appointed, Mort wrote.
Through the first-person stories from the officers and MPD retirees Mort was able to “fill out a rich history and an insight into what makes the department and its family members tick,” she said.
Mort, who lives in Crestview Hills, Ky., said she also asked the officers to relay any of their funny stories on the job and what cases “haunt” them the most. She said three officers mentioned the incident four years that started near the Great Miami River and ended at the Parkway Inn on Verity Parkway.
In 2016 police officers and paramedics were called to Parkway Inn on the report that a 5-year-old was not breathing. The boy, Alexander Stephens, died from those injuries on April 29 and his brother Damyan, 6, suffered what were called non-life threatening injuries.
The boys’ mother, Theresa Hawkins-Stephens, 26, was charged with murder, two counts of felonious assault and two counts of endangering children. She was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison. Her friend, Rachael Bostian, 29, was charged with the same offenses and sentenced to 18 years to life. Another woman, Ramona Bostian, 56, was charged with felonious assault and child endangering was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice.
As a by-product of the research into the police operation, a rather comprehensive list of 849 current and former members of the department was compiled and include sworn officers, reserve officers, cadets, corrections officers, dispatchers and secretaries.
Writing the book was a “fun thing to do,” said Mort.
The book is dedicated to the eight members of the police department who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
HOW TO ORDER
To order the “History of the Middletown Division of Police, Middletown, Ohio” send check for $20 plus $4.25 shipping and handling to Ann Mort, 521 Tuscany Valley Court No. 6, Crestview Hills, Ky., 41017. For more information and credit card sales via Paypal visit teriannestanley.com/ann-mort. A portion of each sale will be donated to the police department weight room equipment fund.
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