WARREN Coalition: Change leadership of police

An ex-city detective says a policeman strip-searched a woman on a street.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The public has lost confidence in the police department leadership and a change must be made, the three Warren Coalition members say.
Recent allegations of police harassment have left members of the minority community wanting the city administration to take action, said Tom Conley, a member of the coalition and chief executive of the Warren-Trumbull Urban League.
He spoke at a Monday press conference at New Jerusalem Fellowship Church, Palmyra Road Southwest, to help keep the public informed about the allegations. The coalition in made up of leaders of black organizations in the city.
"The community is tired of waiting," said the Rev. Alton Merrell Sr., president of the Trumbull County Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, and a coalition member. "We now have proof -- we have videotapes -- it is no longer just allegations. We have proof. People are fed up and something has got to be done."
The coalition met earlier Monday with Fred Harris, safety-service director, and Mayor Hank Angelo and explained that they want a change in police department leadership.
Both Angelo and Harris declined to comment. Police Chief John Mandopoulos could not be reached to comment.
"The administration is looking into the allegations and we understand that it does take time," Conley said.
2 videotapes
In the past few weeks, two videotapes have surfaced that some minority leaders believe show police abusing their powers.
A tape released last month by a resident shows three white officers arresting Lyndal Kimble, who is black. The tape was broadcast nationally.
Kimble states he was beaten by police. Warren Police Chief John Mandopoulos says a preliminary review shows the officers acted appropriately.
The second video shows Mandopoulos and other officers as they stopped by 77 Soul, a nightspot, on May 24.
A friend of club owner LaShawn Ziegler taped Mandopoulos and patrol officer Manny Nites, who put their faces up to the camera. Nites can also be heard calling the cameraman a snitch.
Last week, The Vindicator reported that at least one officer was strip-searching all the men he arrested.
After a complaint was filed by one man who was strip-searched, Lt. Joe Marhulik of the internal affairs division found that two officers violated departmental policy and state law. The chief exonerated the officers.
Harris overruled the chief's finding and ordered Mandopoulos to review the matter and return it him this week.
What's happening
Ron Brown, the third member of the coalition and president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, said that a dozen people contacted the coalition last week and reported being strip-searched.
"I saw a 19-year-old strip-searched on the street," said Morris Hill, a retired city police detective and an investigator with the Ohio Public Defender's Commission.
"It was March 5 and the car she was riding in -- she was a passenger -- was stopped for a traffic violation. The officer put his hands under her shirt and then touched her crotch area on the outside of her clothes. I was a cop for 30 years, and that officer had no right to touch her that way."
Hill said he didn't come forward sooner because the female was afraid. She is now willing to talk, Hill said.
"People feel safer now that they realize others are coming forward," Hill noted.
Merrell added that the community working together will help make the police department and the city better.
"People are coming together and saying 'no more' and it's going to take all of us to fix the problems," Merrell said.
sinkovich@vindy.com