FEDERAL PROBE U.S. to study Warren cop practices

There won't be a full-time Department of Justice presence in Warren, city officials say.
WARREN -- A civil rights unit of the U.S. Department of Justice will review Warren Police Department practices and policies.
The officials, however, are not looking to take over department operations or prosecute for police matters, city officials stress.
The federal officials will be in and out of the city starting after the first of the year.
Law Director Greg Hicks, addressing questions Wednesday along with Mayor Michael O'Brien, Safety-Service Director Doug Franklin and Police Chief John Mandopoulos, view the review as good for Warren. They termed the arrangement a partnership between the city and a policies and practices unit of the justice department's civil rights division.
The city administration had a 40-minute conference call Wednesday with Shanetta Cutlar, acting chief of the special litigation section, civil rights division, in Washington D.C.
"They are not reviewing specific incidents against specific officers. This is a standards and practices, policies and procedures issue," Hicks said.
"They didn't call it an investigation," the mayor noted.
Minority leaders have pressed for the federal officials to come in and review a handful of police cases, some of which involve searches of minorities stopped for traffic and other causes within the city. A half-dozen men filed lawsuits alleging illegal strip-searches; the city has spent $115,000 in the past year to settle them.
Those lawsuits are not what the conference call and procedural review are about, Hicks stressed.
No full-time presence
And so far, the justice department hasn't requested anything -- but Hicks said Mandopoulos right away is sending it the department's rules.
"Right now is an information-gathering session from us," O'Brien added.
"We want to be known as the most willing and cooperative city that this division has ever worked with," he said.
City officials said federal consultants will be in and out of Warren after the new year but do not intend to establish a full-time presence. "They made it very clear there is no intent to take over the police department," Hicks said.
Instead, the partnership will work "to help raise the professionalism" with the best training and practices, he said. These consultants can give guidance or simply just review what Warren's already doing.
In March 2003, Mandopoulos implemented a new departmental policy with strict guidelines on strip-searches. The new guidelines, written by city police and law department officials, require doctors to be present during the most invasive searches.
"We want to build on what we're presently doing through the training we've accomplished so far," O'Brien said.
The police chief said he maintains an open-door policy. "If they see something wrong, tell me what it is and let's see if we can fix it," he said. At the same time, a review could show that the department's practices are governed by the Ohio Revised Code or that there is a "perception issue" toward the police, he noted.
Mandopoulos did note there have been 22 complaints so far this year against officers, some of them internal affairs cases he himself initiated.
No new officers
In a related matter, Warren's proposed budget for next year makes no provision for hiring more police officers.
City voters last summer boosted Warren's income tax to 2 percent; the added half-percent was promoted for staffing and equipping the police and fire departments.
"We're a third of the way toward that goal; we've hired three," O'Brien said, noting it is possible additional police hirings could be phased in next year as income tax revenue is received. There are now 77 officers.
"The priority in this city is to hire more police officers," he said. "One thing you cannot predict is a decrease in revenue."
The city income tax is affected by job reductions in business and industry. The mayor said it's projected there will be $3.3 million less revenue in city coffers in 2005 as compared to 2003. The city's budget is expected to be about $27 million but is still under review by city council.
Training within the police department has continued this year, being paid for with police funds, O'Brien explained. Training, equipment and drug education money comes through forfeitures and other arrests.