WARREN Some want federal police investigation

The FBI says it has not received a formal complaint about the department.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A summer filled with allegations of both police brutality and strip-searches should be enough to warrant a criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, some community leaders and outside observers say.
Despite being asked by at least two local people to probe the city's police department, buthowever, justice department officials have yet to say if they are willing to investigate.
"We're talking," said Thomas Conley, president of the Warren-Trumbull Urban League, who on behalf of the Warren Coalition asked the justice department to investigate. "I don't know any more than that at this time."
Atty. Richard Olivito, who filed five lawsuits on behalf of citizens who believe the city police violated their constitutional rights, has included in his suits a request to have a federal judge order the justice department to investigate. "They are needed to look at that department," Olivito said. He noted that so far no judge has asked the department to investigate.
Justice department officials declined to comment.
What councilman said
"We need the justice department's criminal division because the citizens have a problem with the police department," said city Councilman James "Doc" Pugh. "No one in that department has been disciplined."
"An internal report revealed that illegal strip-searches were taking place. That report was released in July, and it's November and no one has been disciplined," he added.
Pugh noted that since June, there have been half a dozen people who have complained about excessive force by the police department, including Lyndal Kimble. Kimble's June arrest was videotaped by a neighbor. The videotape has been shown on national and local television.
The police department and the city law department are investigating if police violated the law when people who were arrested on traffic charges were strip-searched. Three people who say they were illegally strip-searched have filed federal lawsuits.
Because the suits are pending, the law department has advised the administration not to discipline any officers, said Greg Hicks, city law director.
Two of the strip-search lawsuits have been settled, but details of the settlements have not been released.
What's in law
Ohio law states that conducting an illegal strip-search is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Performing a strip-search without filling out a report is a fourth-degree misdemeanor, punishable by 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.
Trumbull County prosecutors say strip-searches should be done only in certain cases, and a list of procedures -- including, in many cases, getting a search warrant -- must be followed.
"We don't need our department doing this investigation. We need an outside agency," said Pugh.
If the U.S. Department of Justice's criminal investigation did decide to probe the department, the FBI would be asked to handle the matter.
John Kane, agent in charge of the FBI's Youngstown office, says his department is not probing the department. "A complaint has not been filed here," Kane said.
An attorney, representing two men who filed and settled lawsuits on alleged illegal strip-searches, says he does not know why the FBI needs a complaint to investigate the matter.
"First, I think there has been enough publicity on this issue and enough official documents existing, such as the internal reports and federal lawsuits, to indicate there is a problem," said Atty. Ken Myers, of Cleveland.
"I'm not sure what law or regulation would prohibit the FBI from investigating a civil rights violation just because there is not a formal complaint."
Myers added that he believes an outside agency should be looking at the strip-search complaints.
"What has concerned me since I first heard about the allegations is the fact that this seemed to be not just a pattern but a policy to conduct illegal strip- and body-cavity searches," Myers said.
What's in report
Information from an internal police department investigation indicates some officers assigned to patrol the Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority's homes were routinely conducting strip-searches on suspects taken to the police station.
One officer assigned to the unit told Lt. Joseph Marhulik, an internal affairs detective, that Sgt. Robert Massucci ordered him to conduct the searches, but Massucci denies giving such an order.
Statements that some TMHA officers gave to Marhulik as part of the internal investigation are not available.
Massucci has said previously he often asked people he arrested to remove their clothes so he could check for contraband in case they went to jail. Massucci noted that some people try to hide illegal drugs in their private area.
Because no reports were made if strip-searches took place, the police department has no way to check how many times the searches may have been performed, Marhulik said.
In July, The Vindicator reported patrol officer Tim Parana acknowledged routinely conducting body-cavity searches and strip-searches on male suspects in minor crimes, according to an internal police investigation.
That internal investigation was started because of a complaint by TMHA resident Dominic Gambone, 25, who lived on South Project Street S.W. when he was arrested in February 2002 on charges of driving under suspension and driving slowly.
Gambone said he was taken to the police station by patrol officers Parana and Robert Trimble and strip-searched in a holding cell.
How this was handled
After the internal investigation, Mandopoulos exonerated the officers.
"This really needs to be looked into by an outside agency because we have the United State Constitution that says we can't do these things," said Fred Harris, the city's safety-service director. "Just how many people have had their civil rights violated?"
Still, Police Chief John Mandopoulos and Hicks defend the department and say an outside investigation is not needed.
"I don't believe there is a systemic problem running through the police department," Hicks said. "It doesn't run through all members of the department. I do believe some officers may need additional training or guidance or discipline. We have a lot of very good men and women on that department."
sinkovich@vindy.com