POLICE DEPARTMENT


On behalf of the men and women of the Willoughby Hills Police Department, it is my pleasure to welcome you to our website.  As your Chief of Police, I am blessed for the opportunity to serve our community in this capacity.  Here at the Willoughby Hills Police Department, we honor the traditions of our past while being progressive with our vision for the future.  We continue to maintain our core values of Pride, Courage and Service as the foundation of our obligation to our community and are committed to providing exemplary police services. 

Our Department is a full service law enforcement agency committed to providing innovative methods to combat and reduce crime in the City of Willoughby Hills.  The Department’s Divisions include Patrol Bureau, Detective Bureau, Special Enforcement Units and Administration.  Officers from our Department are members of the Western Lake County Emergency Response Team (ERT), Lake County Drone Team and the Lake County Accident Investigation Team. We also work closely with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to provide the finest law enforcement services to our community.

We strive to seek out new opportunities for community outreach by utilizing Community Policing strategies, addressing quality of life issues, and building partnerships within our community. We believe we have identified a successful strategy for crime reduction that incorporates the use of data-driven, precision policing that fuels our proactive approach in targeting criminal activity, combined with quality-of-life enforcement that addresses low-level criminal activity before it escalates into serious violent offenses.

We combine another component - our proactive approach to community engagement and crime prevention. This strategy brings our officers and our community together as partners to drive down crime by deepening mutual trust, communication and collaboration. This strategy of policing embeds our Department in the community so we can establish better relationships with residents and provide them greater awareness of crime and prevention measures. By cultivating trust and connectivity, officers fight crime and ensure people are safe - and also feel safe.

The last layer of our strategic approach is hiring the right people; finding the right people with skills and attributes that closely align with our mission of providing high levels of customer service.  Extra effort goes into placing an emphasis on candidates who have a shared vision for the future of our Department.  We feel this approach provides an increased awareness to the community needs and an added layer where our employees are invested in the outcomes of their efforts in our community resulting in a workforce that cares about the City.

I am confident with the commitment of the men and women of the Willoughby Hills Police Department, the continued support of our public officials and city leaders, and the ongoing trust and assistance from our community that together, we will continue to make the City of Willoughby Hills one of the safest communities in Northeast Ohio.

- Police Chief Matthew A. Naegele

Mission Statement

The Willoughby Hills Police Department is committed to ensuring the highest quality of life for all residents, visitors and members of the community.  Although our relentless pursuit of criminals is unwavering, we will strive to treat every citizen encounter with professionalism and respect while maintaining a strong partnership within the community.