Ohio Crime Prevention Corporate Award

Don and Judy Miller and Roppe Rubber Company

A personal experience with a criminal incident led Don and Judy Miller to take a stand and fight back against crime in their community of Fostoria. Don and Judy applied their business philosophy and love of Fostoria to bring law enforcement and the community together to openly discuss local drug and crime issues and develop possible solutions. One of their greatest challenges was to coordinate the enforcement efforts from three counties, since Fostoria is split between Hancock, Seneca and Wood Counties.

In December of 2005, a meeting was held to develop a strategic plan, which included demand reduction programming, neighborhood watch development, and use of the Weed and Seed Strategy to address crime and decay. The Broken Windows Theory” was discussed as the basis for addressing problems in the community.

In January of 2006, the strategy was announced and discussed publicly and fund raising was accelerated to help finance the plan. While Don and Judy Miller rallied support for the initiative, the Community Fund began to receive donations ranging from $5 to $100,000 toward a goal of $500,000 over five years.

Meetings were held within the community to seek support and participation. And the media joined in supporting the effort. One such effort was the OWL (On Watch and Listening) Program, which promotes neighborhood watch participation by placing bright colored plastic owls on the front yard of participating residents.

On April 1, 2006, Zero Tolerance officially kicked off with multiple drug raids, arrests and public announcements.

Thanks to the work of Don and Judy Miller, the support of Roppe Rubber, and many other partners, open street crime in the target area has all but disappeared, while overall crime is down by 75 percent. Resident volunteer organizations are growing and donations are up.

Don and Judy Miller have not only called a community to action and mobilized significant resources, they have inspired the passion in all of us to “Get involved and make a difference.”