Today’s well-kept properties reveal the City’s German roots. The influence is unmistakable in streets called Bertus, Moeller and Broerman. One of the most prominent residents, John “Bernard” Schroeder, named 1850 hilltop subdivision after his patron saint. That parcel became the Village of St. Bernard in 1878. By 1912, City incorporation included Ludlow Grove, settled by mill owner John Ludlow, which had become the site for industries such as Procter & Gamble “Ivorydale” Plant, Henkel-Emery Industries, Cincinnati Specialties, Cincinnati Vulcan Oil, and numerous other industries. John Ludlow was a half-brother of Israel Ludlow who was appointed by Washington as a surveyor in the Northwestern Territory and who laid out the City of Cincinnati.

With the incorporation of the Village of St. Bernard in 1878, it became necessary to establish a police department and to elect a marshal. The first so elected was William Bode.  At that time, he was the sole guardian of the peace, being on duty day and night. In 1898, an assistant day marshal and two men were appointed for duty at night. 

When the village became a city in 1912, the first Chief of Police, Charles Burkhardt, was appointed and the department was reorganized and two shifts were installed each in charge with a Sergeant and the first call boxes were installed in the City. In 1914, the Chief of Police, Michael Conneighton, introduced the current eight hour three shift format of operation. The department was also placed under civil service at this time. In 1922, the Chief of Police, Chas. Lohmann incorporated the use of patrol cars and a motorcycle. Patrolling has been performed using cruisers since that date.  At the same time, Chief Lohmann organized the Police and Fireman’s Benevolent Association providing sick and death benefits for the members of both departments’. This fund is still alive today and is carried on with an annual steak fry.  

During those early years, the police department was located in the original City Hall from 1890 until 1971. The department was briefly located in the current Municipal Building from 1971 until 1978 when it was relocated to our current Vine Street location.

The 1960’s-1980’s were years of constant improvement and efficiency in operations, due to new technical innovations applied to police work. During the late 1970’s a new officer was required to complete 240 hours of training and started attending specialized training at police academies. Today new recruits are required to complete 550 hours of training. Likewise, there was the addition of radio communications, crime prevention programs and computer terminals in the police cruisers, which greatly enhanced our mission accomplishment. 

The 1960’s-1980’s were years of constant improvement and efficiency in operations, due to new technical innovations applied to police work. During the late 1970’s a new officer was required to complete 240 hours of training and started attending specialized training at police academies. Today new recruits are required to complete 550 hours of training. Likewise, there was the addition of radio communications, crime prevention programs and computer terminals in the police cruisers, which greatly enhanced our mission accomplishment. 

During the year 2008, our 14 Officer Police Department visibly serves and protects residents and businesses: from accompanying employees, making bank deposits to retrieving lost pets. Crime prevention reaches all ages: from reading stories to pre-schoolers to teaching conflict resolution in high school and a strong Neighborhood Watch Program. Personalized, local law enforcement, frequent squad-car coverage throughout the city and a high-tech communication system help the St. Bernard force maintain a friendly, useful presence. We are undergoing major changes with the Accreditation of the department and are taking a pro-active role by automating the department, creating a department web site, creating a department newsletter, creating a procedure manual, and creating a citizen survey to get valuable input from our community. We recently added computers to our cruisers to aide in the identification of criminals etc.

We take pride in our accomplishments through the years as an integral part of our community. We will continue to build upon our past to improve our service and equipment to provide our citizens with the very best of police services. We have a long history of serving the community of St. Bernard proudly!