Detective Steven Vanek attended Baldwin Wallace University and The University of Cincinnati, earning a bachelors and masters degree in Criminal Justice. Detective Vanek is a graduate of the Cleveland Police Academy and served The City of Cleveland as a Patrol Officer. He is currently assigned as a Detective for The Strongsville Police Department where he has served for nine years. 

 

Detective Vanek is the Drone Unit Coordinator for the Strongsville Police Department and has been a FAA Part 107 operator for seven years, growing the unit to seven members, and expanding the capabilities of the unit into the realm of both 3D scene reconstruction and tactical deployment. He has extensive experience working with DJI platforms, DroneSense, PIX4D, and WEBODM, to generate accurate 3D scene reconstructions of both interior and exterior scenes using photogrammetry.

 

Steven is a Certified Crime Scene Analyst through The International Association for Identification and is a member of the International Association for Identification, International Homicide Investigators Association, and Ohio Identification Officers Association.

 

Detective Vanek is also a Crime Scene instructor for the Polaris Police Academy in Middleburg Heights and was elected to City Council for Parma Heights in 2025.