Former FBI Agent Joins LCCC as Commander of the Police Academy

After 26 years of nabbing thieves, drug dealers and corrupt politicians, former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Paul Graupmann is sharing his wisdom with aspiring police officers.

As the new Commander of Lorain County Community College’s Police Academy, Graupmann is using his experience to groom the latest generation of crime fighters.

Graupmann retired from the FBI on April 30. After taking a few months off, he joined the LCCC faculty on Sept. 8. Though the post as commander is a second career for him, he does not take the duties lightly.

“I do not look at this as a retirement job, but as an extension of my law enforcement career,” Graupmann said.

A resident of North Ridgeville for 23 years, Graupmann was an integral part in a wide spectrum of cases in Lorain and Cuyahoga counties over the years. For the past six years, he supervised the FBI’s political corruption division in Cleveland and is seeing the fruits of his labor in the arrests of several key figures in Cuyahoga County politics. Though he cannot comment on the specifics of the investigations, he counts political corruption cases among the larger events he was involved in with the FBI.

The current politician takedowns aren’t the only major local law enforcement event Graupmann helped to orchestrate. Working with the Lorain and Elyria police departments and the Lorain County Drug Task Force in 2000, he helped lead an operation that seized 50 pounds of cocaine and resulted in the convictions of more than 30 people. The project was successful in uprooting criminal activity, but was also monumental because of the cooperation between law enforcement departments, Graupmann said.

“That is one of the best cases I ever worked,” he said. “It took two years from start to finish and involved myself and financial analyst Michele Mager from the FBI, and at least 25 police officers from various departments. It was the perfect poster for teamwork.”

While Northeast Ohio benefitted from Graupmann’s talents in numerous instances, he’s also used his knowledge around the world. Twice he traveled to the Middle East to train Iraqi security forces. He has also conducted training in the Philippines and Romania, and lectured at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Hungary.  In 1999, he traveled to Kosovo, where he investigated war crimes that were tried in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Though Graupmann’s law enforcement duties have taken him around the world, he remains modest about his role.

“I’m not that interesting, but I’ve been fortunate enough to be present when some pretty interesting stuff is happening,” he said.

He happened to be around when international jewel thief Doris Payne escaped from police custody in Texas and was believed to be hiding out in the Cleveland area. Through detective work, Graupmann was able to locate and arrest her at an apartment complex in Bedford Heights. Now 77 years old and doing time in a Las Vegas jail, Payne used her smooth style to make a career stealing from jewelry stores around the world. When Graupmann got to her, Payne reacted unlike any of the many times she was taken into custody over the years: she told him her life story.

“When I arrested her, she had a diamond ring in her pocket that had been stolen from New Jersey,” Graupmann recalled. “She’d been arrested many times before, but this was unique because I was the first person she told her story to.”

Payne’s tale captured the attention of the country and Hollywood; her account is expected to be turned into a feature length movie starring Halle Berry.            Payne’s story may be alluring, but Graupmann remains unimpressed.

“She’s become a mini-celebrity, but she’s a garden variety jewel thief who kept getting caught,” he said.

Now, as Graupmann’s life comes full circle from his beginnings as a police officer in a Detroit suburb, he still makes time to remember what it’s like as a new cop out on patrol. An auxiliary member of the North Ridgeville Police Department, he hits the streets once a week to stay up-to-date on the latest in law enforcement.

 “It’s important for me as I train police officers to remember what it’s like out there,” he said. “It’s a lot harder than people think.”

Understanding the challenges of the job, Graupmann ensures that each graduate of the police academy is ready for the reality of the post.

“I wouldn’t accept anyone in the academy that I wouldn’t want to work with on the road,” he said.

Graupmann replaced Roy Cavan as the academy’s commander. Cavan headed the academy since its inception in 2002, and continues as an instructor in the academy and also teaches courses in criminal justice at LCCC.

“I am honored to welcome Mr. Graupmann as the new commander of our police academy,” said Social Sciences and Human Services Dean Ralph Bishop. “His extensive experience will be a great asset to the academy.”

Graupmann lives in North Ridgeville with his wife, Ann. The couple has three grown children and three grandchildren, who all live in Northeast Ohio.

Throughout his amazing experiences, Graupmann maintains a modest philosophy on law enforcement that he passes on to those he trains.

“Police are ordinary people getting involved in extraordinary circumstances,” he said.

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