WARREN Police issues threaten tax for safety forces

The half-percent sales tax expires at the end of 2004.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Some residents are threatening to reject attempts to make permanent an income-tax increase to fund safety forces because of problems with the police department.
Council entertained first reading Wednesday on legislation to put a question before voters March 2 that would make permanent the 0.5 percent portion of the city's 2 percent income tax for the police and fire departments.
Voters passed that portion of the tax in 2001, and it expires at the end of 2004.
Call for discipline
Ronald Brown, who works with the Warren Coalition, a group of minority leaders, urged Mayor Hank Angelo and Safety-Service Director Fred Harris to dismiss or discipline Police Chief John Mandopoulos.
He also asked council members to allocate funding for the police department only for those duties that are mandated by law.
Brown was one of several people in Wednesday's standing-room-only crowd who were critical of the police department.
"For the most part, we have good police officers," Brown said. "But there are a few bad officers. The police department is mismanaged. The chief is not in tune with the changing needs of the community."
Mandopoulos declined to comment after the meeting.
Situation at club
Last month, a predisciplinary hearing was conducted to determine if the chief should be disciplined for his actions outside 77 Soul, a U.S. Route 422 nightclub, and in connection with allegations that he intimidated a television reporter.
The chief and another officer are accused of sticking their eyes up to the camera, giving close-ups of their eyeballs. The chief also is accused of threatening to give the address of a local television reporter to drug dealers.
The mayor hasn't issued a decision on discipline.
If problems in the police department aren't addressed, residents will vote against the police and fire tax in March, Brown said.
Lea Dotson also urged Mandopoulos' removal, citing what she called his lack of respect for the community and a lack of control of his officers.
Dotson, one of five people who filed a lawsuit against the city and several police officers saying they were assaulted by police, acknowledged the officers have difficult jobs. But she said some people in Warren would rather deal with injustice on their own than call the police because they don't trust police any more than they do the criminals.
That lawsuit was dismissed because the group's attorney wasn't admitted to practice in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio when the suit was filed.
Separating police and fire?
Ron White, a former councilman, said the police and fire taxes should be placed before voters separately.
"You can't have one department running amok and another department paying for it," he said.
Some council members say many problems in the city could be addressed if those involved showed mutual respect.
Councilwoman Susan E. Hartman, D-7th, said part of the money from the safety forces tax is allocated for training.
"By not voting on this tax, you may be creating more problems than you realize," she said.
denise.dick@vindy.com