MAHONING VALLEY Chiefs of police seek summit on reform

The Beaver police chief said the group is not politically motivated.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning Valley Chiefs of Police Association, advocating changes in the criminal justice system, wants chiefs, judges and prosecutors to hold a summit.
"We could all sit down in a room where no one would be afraid of reprisals and everyone could walk out feeling we're going to do what's best for the people of the Mahoning Valley -- instead of ourselves," said Beaver Police Chief Carl N. Frost, chairman of the association. "As an association, we've talked about getting it to that point if we can get past the threatening that's going on behind the scenes at this point."
Frost declined to say what threats have been made since the chiefs began speaking out a few weeks ago. He said the chiefs anticipated backlash: "Yes, unfortunately, but we knew that going into it and we have received it."
What group proposes
The chiefs advocate full-time prosecutors and judges, tax reforms to ensure adequate law enforcement funding, the imprisonment of repeat offenders and more.
"Every time you bring something up, people assume you're running for something," Frost said. The group, he said, is not speaking out for political reasons.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains said he'd welcome a meeting with the chiefs. He said he's willing to try anything to reduce crime.
At a press conference Monday, Gains talked about the number of people who have gone to prison since he took office in 1997, and he passed out crime statistics for Youngstown showing 1988 through June 30. Some crimes, such as homicide, rape and aggravated assault, are down significantly for the first six months of this year compared with 2002. Others, such as robbery, arson and auto theft, are down only slightly, if projected for the entire year.
Gains said he agrees with the chiefs association that not everyone is going to prison who should. He pointed out that sentencing is up to judges.
The prosecutor corrected his prison commitments number, which stated they were one-third above his predecessor, James A. Philomena, who is now in prison for case fixing. The increase is 9 percent. Gains said he used Philomena's last year only for comparison and didn't intend to mislead.
Gains was asked why he compares himself to Philomena and not to a prosecutor in a county of similar size.
Last year in Lorain County, for example, 650 criminals were sent to state prisons; Mahoning County sent 236.
"All I can tell you is we're doing what we can," Gains said. "They have different judges up there. As far as I'm concerned, we are an aggressive prosecutor's office."
Greg White was prosecutor in Lorain County last year and now is U.S. attorney in Cleveland. He has pledged to do what he can in Mahoning County to lower the crime rate. The push was on this summer to prosecute gun crimes at the federal level.
One judge
Frost and Boardman Township Police Chief Jeff Patterson advocate using one judge to handle repeat offenders' cases.
Patterson said a "career criminal court" at the common pleas level with a dedicated judge and prosecutor who would handle all cases involving repeat offenders would eliminate the current "luck of the draw" system. The defendant would be assigned to the court after, say, the third conviction on any nontraffic offense. The court would be similar to the drug court.
Such a court would ensure that the prosecutors and judges are familiar with the histories of the defendants, adequate time would be allotted to processing the cases effectively, and sentencing would be consistent, he said.
meade@vindy.com