Lawsuits force mayor to delay probe of police

A community information session is planned for Oct. 17 in a church.
& lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;By PEGGY SINKOVICH & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The city administration's promise to find out why at least one police officer routinely conducted strip-searches is on hold because of concerns that an investigation will influence the outcome of federal lawsuits.
The decision not to pursue the administrative investigation at this time is frustrating, Mayor Hank Angelo said.
"It's regretful that it's on hold because I told the community the matter would get resolved," Angelo said. "I am taking the advice of our attorneys, and I feel I'm getting good advice."
The mayor said the city's law director, Greg Hicks, advised him not to go forward with the investigation at this time. "I'm also planning to talk to the attorney from our insurance carrier," Angelo said.
"My problem is that from a legal standpoint, any action the city takes can affect the status of the lawsuits," Hicks said. "Any action could be used to show fault."
The city's position surprised one of the attorneys who filed a lawsuit contending his client's constitutional rights were violated when police conducted a strip-search.
"I never intended for the filing of the lawsuit to be an automatic grant of immunity for the police department to break the law," said Atty. Ken Myers of Cleveland, who is representing LaShawn Ziegler and Brandon Rodgers.
"The city has an obligation to follow the law and to investigate allegations of wrongdoing within its ranks."
Coalition plans
The delay also upset Tom Conley, CEO of the Warren-Trumbull Urban League.
"I understand what they are saying, but I really expected things to be moving forward," Conley said. "The community has been patient, but I'm now receiving calls from people who want to organize protests and demonstrations."
Conley and the other two members of the Warren Coalition, an organization made up of minority leaders, will hold a community information session at 6 p.m. Oct. 17 in New Jerusalem Fellowship Church, 2555 Palmyra Road S.W.
"We are going to tell the people what has or has not happened in the last few months and decide what we should do in the future," Conley said. "We still hold the position that Police Chief John Mandopoulos has to go."
Mandopoulos could not be reached.
The Vindicator reported in July that a recent internal investigation showed people arrested on traffic violations were subjected to strip-searches by officers.
Lt. Joseph Marhulik conducted the departmental investigation after Dominic D. Gambone, 25, of Warren filed a complaint saying police did a body-cavity search on him when he was arrested in February 2002 on charges of driving under suspension and driving slowly.
Marhulik stated in his internal report he thinks the search violated state law and departmental policy.
Officer Tim Parana, who took part in the Gambone search, said in a written report that he performs a strip-search on every male he arrests.
Mandopoulos declined to discipline the officers.
Since August, four people have filed federal lawsuits contending they were illegally strip-searched by police. All are pending.
& lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;sinkovich@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;