POLICE Officer's five-day suspension upheld, doubled for partner

The officers can decide to appeal the case to an arbitrator, city officials said.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The city's safety-service director has upheld a 5-day suspension given to one police officer and doubled a 5-day suspension for another officer.
Doug Franklin, the city safety-service director, said he upheld Police Chief John Mandopoulos' suspension of Patrol Officer Ed Hetmanksi but felt Patrol Officer Joseph Kistler should receive additional time off.
Franklin's ruling comes about a week after he heard the officers' appeal. The officers were appealing the chief's decision to suspend them.
"It became evident during the hearing that it was Kistler who turned off the audio and video recording devices, which is a direct violation," Franklin said.
Neither Kistler not Hetmanski could be reached to comment.
The officers can decide to appeal the case to an arbitrator, city officials said. The discipline will be temporarily suspended until the officers exhaust their appeal rights.
Mandopoulos found Kistler and Hetmanski guilty of administrative charges of conducting an unreasonable search Dec. 30 on Willie Summerlin of Second Street.
What happened
The officers were taken off the streets last month after an internal investigation concluded they were performing unwarranted searches on people stopped for traffic violations.
A review of the videotape from the cruiser, which also includes sound, shows officers searching Summerlin and his vehicle. When officers returned to the cruiser, they can be heard arguing with Summerlin. The tape was shut off during the conversation between Summerlin and the officers.
Summerlin filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Youngstown earlier this month against the city, Mandopoulos, Kistler and Hetmanski.
The suit states Hetmanski and Kistler violated Summerlin's constitutional rights during the traffic stop.
Summerlin said he was humiliated when Hetmanski searched him and grabbed his crotch area. The search was done in front of his friend's home on Iowa Street and was videotaped by his friend's grandchildren.
sinkovich@vindy.com