Medina PD promotes 2 officers – Navas to lieutenant and Reeves to sergeant

Village officials say lower pay in Medina makes it difficult to keep and recruit officers

Photos by Tom Rivers: Christian Navas takes the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony on Monday evening during the Medina Village Board meeting. Navas was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant. He is holding his daughter Layla while his other daughter Mackenzie smiles. Navas’ wife Stephanie holds the Bible during the oath.

MEDINA – The Medina Police Department has promoted two officers within the department.

Christian Navas and Jake Reeves both started with Medina in 2016. Navas has been promoted to lieutenant and Reeves to sergeant. Both were sworn to their new positions on Monday during the Village Board meeting.

Navas fills the lieutenant position that has been vacant since Todd Draper moved from that position, the department’s second-in-command, to police chief in June 2023. Navas has been a sergeant with Medina PD since 2021.

Reeves has been Medina’s K9 handler since 2020. He will continue in that role with Phoenix, a Belgian Malinois.

New Medina Police Department Sgt. Jake Reeves gets helps with his collar brass insignia from Lt. Christian Navas and Police Chief Todd Draper. Reeves’ wife Dana watches after Reeves took the oath of office for his promotion.

The two officers were praised for their long-term commitment to the Medina PD, especially during a time of frequent turnover at smaller police departments.

“Both are great people in our department and they live locally,” said Mayor Marguerite Sherman.

The board accepted the resignation of Kyle Daly, who has left to join the Ogden Police Department. Alexandra Reigle of the Albion PD also has joined the Ogden PD. They were both sworn in at Ogden on Monday. They both live in Monroe County.

Police Chief Todd Draper said of the department’s 10 officers right now, seven have less than five years of experience at Medina. He said the pay in Medina is significantly less than at many of the Monroe County departments.

Many of the new officers for Medina live out of county, Draper said. They ultimately want to work closer to where they live, he said, when asked about the turnover in Medina.

Medina Police Chief Todd Draper administers the oath of office to Jake Reeves on Monday. Reeves was promoted to sergeant. He has been with the Medina PD since 2016 and will continue as the K9 handler, which he started in 2020.

The starting pay in Medina is $50,430, while some of the Monroe County departments are offering more than $100,000 for officers with at least three years of experience.

“The pay is definitely an issue we just can’t compete with,” Draper said in responding to a question from a community member at the board meeting. “The pay is a substantial difference.”

Draper said having more local candidates for the positions would help, but he said only 11 people took the recent Civil Service test to be a police officer and only one was a local resident.

Village Trustee Jess Marciano said the Village Board faces “intense pressure” to try to keep taxes as low as possible, while facing intense pressure to offer services, including police protection.

She praised Navas and Reeves for their long-term commitment to Medina, especially when they could earn more elsewhere.

Lt. Christian Navas holds his daughter Layla while being sworn in as lieutenant for the Medina PD. He joined Medina PD in 2016 and was promoted to sergeant in 2021. His daughter holds up her hand while watching her father take the oath.

Mayor Sherman said Medina started offering a better retirement system recently to police officers, hoping that would be an incentive for officers to make it a career with the department. But Sherman said many of the younger officers would prefer to be bigger paychecks while working.

“The younger people want their money now,” she said.

She said the board continues to seek a balance on what the community can afford and what it needs to be competitive with other municipalities and businesses.

“We’re doing the best we can to pay them what we can,” Sherman said.