MAHONING VALLEY Police chiefs group issues call for reform

The chiefs want to establish minimum sentencing.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning Valley Chiefs of Police Association, citing "a cadre of lifelong, predatory street criminals" who slip through the criminal-justice system, is asking for sweeping change.
In a resolution released today, the association, which represents 58 active and retired chief executive law-enforcement officers in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, is calling on local and state officials to act. The group advocates change in four key areas:
URestructuring and proper staffing of Mahoning municipal and county courts and the county prosecutor's office to improve the effectiveness of the criminal-justice system. Part-time prosecutors and judges who have full-time practices is "just looking for trouble," said Beaver Police Chief Carl N. Frost, association chairman. Scheduling 85 cases for a three-hour period twice a week in county courts such as Boardman results in plea bargains, not trials, he said.
UTax reforms that will ensure adequate funding for local law enforcement and consideration of other measures before reducing law-enforcement staff to save costs. Layoffs at sheriff's departments in Mahoning and Trumbull counties is termed irresponsible and unacceptable.
UImmediate regional cooperation in the provision of local forensic-pathology service. The lack of a forensic pathologist in Mahoning County results in unreasonable delays, jeopardizing prosecution of homicide cases and imposing increased costs on financially strapped law-enforcement agencies.
UThe expansion of locally available drug, alcohol and mental-health treatment resources. The lack of adequate care results in long waiting lists, superficial evaluation, ineffective short-term intervention and abuse of available programs, thus failing to address the problem of drug-related crime.
Impact of problems
The resolution states that the system of part-time county and municipal courts and prosecutors in Mahoning County and understaffing in common-pleas courts and the county prosecutor's office "is inadequate to administer justice in a county that has the highest per-capita homicide and gun violence rate in the entire state of Ohio. Our citizens and businesses are repeatedly victimized."
Criminals slip through the system on a seemingly endless series of reduced charges and plea-bargained sentences until they finally kill a resident or police officer, the chiefs said.
They added that a recent series of stories in The Vindicator "has exposed other significant shortcomings in prosecution and sentencing at all levels of Mahoning County courts, and our individual experiences have been consistent with their reporting."
At the next chiefs' meeting, minimum sentencing acceptable by the membership will be established, Frost said. "Judges will still do what they want to do, but we won't be part of the problem."
Typically, when a plea agreement is reached, a prosecutor will consult with the police officers involved to seek their approval of a reduced charge and the sentence recommendation. With or without approval, the contents of a plea agreement are up to the prosecutor, and the sentence is up to the judge.
meade@vindy.com