Becoming police chief was something that wasn’t to be, he said.
Poulemanos, 60, said he didn’t start to become a police officer. A 1969 graduate of Hamilton Taft High School, Poulemanos said he went to a few colleges and bounced around what seemed to have been 30 jobs.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I always had this in the back of my mind,” he said.
His father Pete served as a Hamilton police officer for more than nine years but Poulemanos said he never encouraged or discouraged him from becoming a police officer.
Pete Poulemanos left the police force to open up the Modernage Carry Out at Main and Western on the city’s West Side in the early 1960s. Steve Poulemanos said he worked there between the ages of 8 and 21.
“They let it run down and now it’s vacant. It was a thriving business then because there was little competition,” Poulemanos said. “It’s an eyesore now and it looks nasty. I hate to drive by it anymore.
Poulemanos became a police officer in August 1979. He found he liked dealing with people and the adrenaline rush while working as a street officer.
“I found it to be my thing and I loved it,” he said. “It’s been very rewarding.”
Poulemanos became a detective in 1985 and was promoted to sergeant in 1988.
He also served on the entry team on the SWAT unit for 16 years and later became a sniper and a team leader before becoming SWAT commander.
In 1982, he was promoted to lieutenant overseeing street patrols and was later assigned as the support services lieutenant in 1998 in anticipation of being promoted to captain 12 years ago.
He said moving over to the support services side of the department “was something totally foreign to me after being on the streets for 20 years.”
Poulemanos said the opportunity to going into the “business side” of the police department was another opportunity for him to experience a number of jobs.
As the commander of the administrative bureau, Poulemanos oversees the records, communications, public affairs, polygraph, court services and training sections as well as the chaplain and honor guard units. He also oversees police facilities, vehicles, budget, policy and planning for the department.
Poulemanos has seen how police work has changed over the past three decades as technology becoming more prevalent than it was when he became a cop.
Poulemanos said the professionalism among the officers has improved over the years and what was acceptable 30 years ago isn’t tolerated anymore.
“Officers are held to a higher standard both on and off-duty,” he said. “We need it to maintain our integrity and as an administration, we’ve raised the bar in this area.”
Poulemanos said training is more extensive now than it was 30 years ago and more officers are college educated.
He also said the budget constraints have kept the department from keeping up with new technologies.
Poulemanos said he’s proud of his accomplishments. A self-described fitness buff, Poulemanos goes to the gym six days a week.
He also convinced the city’s Civil Service Commission, Law Department and city manager to include a physical fitness test for police officer candidates 25 years ago. A year later, the state made that requirement as well.
“That gave us credibility and improved the candidates,” he said. “About a third of police officer candidates won’t show up for the fitness test of a 1.5 mile run, push ups and sit ups. Those who do show up for the fitness test, half failed.”
When the city’s Municipal Court moved to the new Municipal Building on High Street, Poulemanos oversaw the renovation of the building.
Another accomplishment Poulemanos is proud of is the way the city charges prisoners. Hamilton police has two six-hour holding cells and the city was paying Butler County about $1.2 million to house prisoners charged under city ordinances.
While prior city administrations believed that the fines collected offset the jail costs, Poulemanos found the city could save about $1 million a year by charging criminals under state statutes which shifted all of the prisoner costs to the county.
Since 2001, that policy has saved the city more than $13 million, even though the Sheriff’s Office didn’t like it, he said.
Poulemanos said he has had a fulfilling career that enabled him to provide for his family.
He said he and Linda, his wife of 36 years, are also planning to some traveling overseas and would like to visit Africa, Australia, Japan, Asia, Scandanavia and Russia.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4504 or Ed.Richter@coxinc.com.
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