🖥️ Russell Township IT: Not a Russian Hack

Russell Township IT Issue Summary & Timeline✍️

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By Amy Heutmaker & John Ishee – Candidates for Russell Township Trustee

Clarification on the IT Incident

This was not a hack. The issue was a preventable internal error that occurred during an upgrade of the Russell Police Department’s mobile computers. I want to thank Chief Tom Swainder for taking the time to explain the situation to me today. After speaking with him, I am confident in his account, as well as the Trustees’ explanation. I am left wondering why the Geauga Maple Leaf article published on October 16 omitted key details outlined below.

I also want to extend my sincere apologies to the Trustees for my earlier posts on this topic—I was too harsh and I do take full responsibility for that. However, I believe we can learn from this experience and improve communication moving forward.

Summary of Events - From My Following This Incident

Russell Township residents were initially told that the police department’s email domain was blocked due to a “Russian hack.” However, during the October 16 Trustee meeting, it was clarified that the issue stemmed from a conflict between two antivirus programs on the police department’s network and new mobile units—not a cyberattack.

Thanks to Chief Swainder’s foresight in applying for a .gov domain in August, communication with Geauga County ADP was restored around October 14. Unfortunately, the original domain (@russellpolice.com) remains blocked, and resolution has been delayed until after the November 5 election due to the county’s election security lockdown.

Additionally, the remediation form used by ADP does not allow Chief Swainder to fully explain the situation. It appears ADP is seeking someone to admit fault, despite there being no wrongdoing—only a technical misstep, which does happen unfortunately.

🗓️ Timeline of Events

• August 2025: Chief Swainder applies for a .gov domain.

• September 18: ADP discovers glitch with Russell PD's .com domain, and rightfully blocks it. ADP recommends a temporary Gmail account for police use. Chief Swainder rightly declines to create an unsecured account.

• September 20: A Trustee contacts ADP to request a meeting, as ADP had not reached out.

• September 30: Trustees hold a special meeting and adopt cybersecurity policies.

• October 6: Deadline to submit remediation form before election security lockdown.

• October 14: Russell PD’s .gov domain goes live on ADP’s network, PD can communicate with the County and other Russell departments on the ADP network.

• October 16: Trustees confirm the remediation form was rejected twice; the .com domain remains blocked.

• October 16: Geauga Maple Leaf publishes a story still referring to the issue as a “Russian hack.”

• October 20: Chief Swainder confirms communication was restored via the .gov domain.

⏳ Impact on Taxpayers

• 🚓 Officers had to physically drive to Chardon to transfer data.

• ⛽ Fuel and staff time were wasted.

• 🕓 Police operations were slowed during a critical time.

• 📧 Police could not communicate with other Russell departments via email.

🔐 Election Security vs. Local Preparedness

• The county enforces a four-week lockdown before elections.

• Trustees were aware of the October 6 deadline and attempted to resolve the issue.

• ADP did not accept explanations from the Chief or Trustees.

• The @russellpolice.com domain will remain blocked until after November 4.

🛡️ Moving Forward: Heutmaker & Ishee Propose

• 👥 Conduct an After-Action Review to assess what went wrong.

• ✅ Resolve technical issues and improve inter-agency communication.

• 🧭 Establish a clear chain of responsibility for IT incidents across township departments.

• 💻 Modernize township IT systems and update the township website to prevent future disruptions.

  
  

“Modern problems require competent, local solutions.”— Amy Heutmaker & John Ishee