LIMA, Ohio — After 33 years of service, Lima Police Chief Angel Cortes — the first Hispanic officer employed by the police department and subsequently its first Hispanic chief — will be retiring July 26.
“The most important thing that I'm going to do Day One after I retire — Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Year One, Year Five — is I'm gonna pray every day for the officers of this police department. Across the state they are heroes. They put their life on the line every day,” Chief Cortes said. “I know what it's like to miss birthdays, Christmases. I know what they're going through working long hours. They need our support, and they need our prayers every day. And that's what I'm gonna do.”
Chief Cortes grew up in Cleveland, a city with one of the highest crime rates in the country, and said he was raised in an area right in the center of the violence and crime. Having seen crime every day in his youth, he wanted to escape that environment, bringing him to Lima. Rather than landing in prison in his early 20s like many of his friends, Mr. Cortes moved to Lima, where he studied automotive technology at the University of Northwestern Ohio. He worked as an automotive technician in Lima for six years before becoming a police officer.
Given his background, Chief Cortes had little difficulty adjusting to life as a police officer. He said many new officers in Lima are from rural areas and struggle to navigate a job that requires communication with new cultures or different races.
“For me, I already knew the culture. I already knew I was used to the violence, so it wasn’t a big deal,” he said.
Chief Cortes also acknowledged that his presence as a Hispanic officer in the Lima Police Department helps other officers, primarily those from rural or suburban backgrounds, understand other cultures better.
“I think just being here and working with my peers, and them seeing somebody from a different culture, different background, has helped them to grow in their experiences and be able to understand other cultures better,” Chief Cortes said. “My work ethic has always been very high, so they saw that as well.
“Sometimes people have thought that just because you're from a different culture that you might be lazy, but they didn't see that in me. So me being here, I think, really helped influence how they felt about people from a different culture.”
At the time he saw the advertisement in a local newspaper that piqued his interest in becoming a police officer, Mr. Cortes was living and working on the outskirts of Lima. He wanted to get back into city life and “get a little excitement back in the mix of things,” he said. He took the entrance exam and, a few months later, was offered a job at the Lima Police Department.
“It was not a calling for me. It was just an opportunity to do a better job raising my family and taking care of them, as well as having a more secure future,” Chief Cortes said. “So when he offered me the job, I took it and I went to the academy and left my young family behind for three months living at the academy in Columbus. I started here at the Lima Police Department in August of 1991 as a patrol officer.”
Throughout his career, Chief Cortes looked up to his brother, who was a police officer at the Cleveland Police Department, and other officers in the Lima department.
“There's so many different personalities in police work, hundreds of officers that I've worked with — you just take a little piece of all of them, and they all influence you in one way or another,” he said.
Beyond the influences of his peers, Chief Cortes has personal values that he said have guided his choices throughout his life and his career.
“I believe in treating everybody fairly and being honest and open with people. It's worked for me. I value relationships. But most of all, it's just treating people with respect at any level — no matter if you're the chief of police and talking to a patrol officer that’s only been here for a week,” he said. “You treat that person with respect because when people are not here, under your command, they're in their family's lives. There's somebody, and they don't come here to get abused and harassed or anything like that.”
Major Ronald Holman, who was hired by the department in 1998, said these values have always been clear in how Chief Cortes has conducted himself for as long as he’s known him.
“He's a phenomenal leader. He's always tried to do the right thing by anyone,” Major Holman said. “People universally respected him — maybe didn't agree with every decision he ever made — but respected him because he would be willing to explain why he did what he did and what was behind the decision, and it's always been in the department's best interest.”
Major Holman also said that besides great self-awareness and honesty, Chief Cortes was always guided by his compassion.
“He cares about the officers and cares about the citizens of Lima. He really puts his heart and soul into this job.”
Major Holman said he has learned a great deal from Chief Cortes, and he is sure to miss him “tremendously.”
Engagement and innovation
In his time as police chief since June, 2022, Chief Cortes has sought to both increase the police department’s engagement with the local community and local businesses as well as increase its use of new technology that aids its policing. Based on his goals when he began his role as chief — improving officer morale, improving community relations, and reducing crime — Chief Cortes has had 42 unique accomplishments.
In 2022, he spearheaded a new Trunk or Treat event that focuses on partnering with local businesses. The event brings Lima residents and their children together with both the police department and local businesses for an evening of fun and positive community engagement.
“In the first year that we did it, we had over 50 organizations and businesses join us to do the Trunk or Treat. So it wasn't just a police department event, it was a community event, and it was well attended and it worked out beautifully,” Chief Cortes said. “So we've done two years in a row now, and I'm hoping that they continue that after I'm gone.”
One local business that participated was DJ Strange, who does performances for all sorts of events in Lima. AJ Myers, who operates DJ Strange, has participated in both years of the Trunk or Treat and said it was great for his business.
“It’s good advertising for me and it’s good for the kids as well. I’ve gained business from it, and it’s just a win-win all the way around,” Mr. Myers said.
Beth Keehn, from Mercy Health St. Rita’s in Lima, recalls positive experiences every time she’s worked with Chief Cortes and the Lima police. The hospital works closely with Lima police on multiple things and also participates in the local Trunk or Treat. Ms. Keehn said Chief Cortes has always been “so welcoming” and a “great person to work with in the community.”
According to Chief Cortes, good relations with the local community are a “top priority” for Lima police because they rely on the support of the community to help handle crimes. Chief Cortes said they work closely with the Black Ministerial Alliance, the NAACP, local area ministers, local school administrators, the sheriff’s department, and more to ensure they’re preserving community relations.
Back in 2008, a Lima mother was shot and killed by a police officer conducting a drug raid. Chief Cortes said that the “tragic situation” significantly damaged relationships with the community at the time, but the police department has been able to mend those relationships over time. Now, he said, the relationship with the community is strong enough that locals trust the department to explain its actions before raising any complaints.
Chief Cortes has also established a well-trained SWAT team, which did not exist in Lima when he became chief. He said the SWAT team was huge for officer morale because it gave these officers a special team to attach to.
He has also given officers retention bonuses twice in his tenure, as well as giving them the biggest per-hour pay raise in department history, making the Lima Police Department competitive with other police agencies.
Since Mr. Cortes has been chief, Lima PD has also partnered with a local food bank to create the Filling the Gap program, which allows the police department to distribute packaged boxes of food to families that they observe are in need. They can also give these families vouchers that will allow them to pick up more food from the food bank, following the initial transaction.
When it comes to technology, the police department has installed 12 Flock cameras, which connect to a national database and identify license plates associated with wanted criminals or missing persons. Thanks to these cameras, Lima police officers were able to compile convincing evidence that a suspect had committed a double homicide. The cameras have also allowed them to identify and pick up two escaped prisoners.
As a result of Chief Cortes’ retirement, and after a competitive testing process to find a successor, Maj. Jim Baker will be ceremoniously sworn in as Lima police chief on Wednesday. He will officially take over the duties of chief on July 27, when he will be officially sworn in by Mayor Sharetta Smith.
Also promoted as a result of Chief Cortes’ retirement will be Lt. Curt Hile to the position of major, Sgt. Shane Huber to the position of lieutenant, and a patrol officer to the position of sergeant once that testing process is completed.
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