Gates Mills Police Chief Gets New Role with Familiar Surroundings

Ron Whitmer's new job contains few new elements.

From the jurisdiction to the office he works in, Whitmer found plenty of familiarity when he was named Gates Mills police chief in May.

Whitmer was hired in 1983 as a full-time patrolman in Gates Mills. He keeps portraits of the chiefs he worked for on his wall.

"There's (former Gates Mills chief) George Hughes right up there," Whitmer said, pointing to a picture. "I interviewed with him in this very office and he hired me on."

Whitmer said it became apparent to him in that 30-year-old interview that advancement was a real possibility in the department. He was a sergeant by 1998, followed by an executive lieutenant appointment in 2008. He was named chief after Steve Szeredy retired this year.

"In talking to George Hughes at that time, he very much promoted that there were opportunities, even though we were a small department," Whitmer said. "It was never painted as a dead-end job, just being a patrolman. I definitely, after interviewing and speaking with him, to continue to move up in rank."

He also worked in the protective operations unit of the Suburban Police Anti-Crime Network and for the SWAT team.

Whitmer began his career as a Mayfield Village auxiliary officer in 1981 — a position his father held while Ron was a boy. It would be understatement to say that it rubbed off on Ron and his older brother, Dale, who is an officer for Gates Mills.

"We would be sitting around our dinner table on a Friday evening and my father would be getting on his auxiliary police uniform, he'd be going to work either a football game or a basketball game at Mayfield High School," Whitmer recalled. "We saw that as young children, and I think it instilled something in us. My dad very much took pride in that job."

Whitmer's background also includes four years in the Marine Corps. and graduating from the 203rd class of the FBI Academy. He realizes Gates Mills isn't the most action-packed community to preside over, but Whitmer says that gives the department the opportunity to focus on preventive measures like monitoring homes of owners on vacation.

Whitmer also came in preventing expenditures that were not in the department's budget. In May, Gates Mills closed its jail, which had been housed in the same complex as Village Hall and the police station. The village contracted with Bedford for that service.

The chief is confident in the job he'll do, but he already knows who to thank for future success.

"We're only successful because of the multitalented people in the department," he said. "It really comes down down to that voice on the other end (of the phone) or that blue suit.

"The success is not mine, it's theirs."