New Avon police chief sworn in at ceremony

AVON — The new chief of the Avon Police Department knows a thing or two about rising through the ranks. Dan Fischbach was sworn into the department's top role Thursday at a ceremony in City Hall, more than 25 years after getting his start as a part time dispatcher straight out of high school. "My older brother was a policeman, my father worked at the city of Westlake Police Department. It's been in my family," he said. His older brother, Larry Fischbach, still works for the Avon Police Department as a captain. Both siblings were born and raised in Avon and have worked their entire careers for their hometown department. The two will work together closely as chief and captain. Dan Fischbach said that when he was working as a part-time dispatcher, he just wanted to become an officer and did not look too far into the future beyond that. But once he achieved that lifelong goal, he began aspiring to continue moving up in rank. "I've worn a lot of different hats in the department. I've been a part-time dispatcher, a patrol officer, a sergeant, a lieutenant. I've been on the dive team, I've been on the accident investigation team, the detective bureau," he said. Dan Fischbach replaces Richard Bosley as police chief in Avon. Bosley's retirement began this month after he served a decade as chief and more than two decades overall with the Avon Police Department. It may sound corny to some, Dan Fischbach said, but he views his job as being all about helping people. "The beauty of this job is we get to help people on a daily basis, something as simple as getting their keys out of their cars for them," he said. In addition to Dan Fischbach being sworn in, two other officers also took oaths and entered new roles Thursday. Leroy Medina was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant, and Charles Lavelle was promoted from patrolman to sergeant. Mayor Bryan Jensen said Lavelle has earned the respect of everyone, from the younger to older officers. He is known as an honest and quality guy, the mayor stated. Medina's leadership is "second to none," Jensen said. He has taken his role seriously and attended various classes to better himself, according to the mayor. "We will be better off tomorrow than we were today with all three of them," Jensen said. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.