WARREN POLICE Federal review is welcome, city says

A D.C. official discussed the case in a teleconference.
WARREN -- The office of the U.S. Department of Justice working with Warren on police policies and procedures does more than simply look over departmental rules and make recommendations for improvement.
It is specifically tasked with enforcing civil rights in cases of law enforcement misconduct.
The special litigation section is an office within the civil rights division at the Department of Justice. It works closely with various sections in the division, the Office of Justice Programs, and the FBI.
Its chief, Shanetta Brown Cutlar in Washington D.C., was part of a teleconference with city administration Wednesday.
"We didn't have the luxury of researching them before we got the call," said Doug Franklin, safety-service director. "The basis of the call was, they wanted to notify the city that they had the authority to review our policies and procedures."
Franklin said it's fine that the section has a broader authority. "The point still is that we welcome the review -- even in the broad scope of their authority. So, we still view it as an opportunity to get better."
"We're not shuddering, 'Oh my God, they're coming in to look at us,'" added Law Director Greg Hicks. "We're saying, 'Come on down, we're happy to have you.'"
City officials said consultants will be in and out of Warren after the new year but do not intend to take over the police department. Hicks said the consultants are former chiefs of police from cities similar to Warren in size, ethnic mix, industrial base and economic condition.
No specific incidents
They are not reviewing specific incidents against specific officers, but standards and practices, policies and procedures. Hicks said they will conduct a "transparent investigation," meaning the city will be kept informed along the way about what might be found.
"We're not just trying to be spin doctors here. We actually are that upbeat," Hicks continued. "We think it may be able to put to bed some of the negativism or the belief that there's some systemic problem with our police department."
Eric Holland, a spokesman for the section, would not comment on what brought Warren to the special litigation section's attention. He did confirm that it is looking at the Warren Police Department and that the city is cooperating.
According to its Web site, the section is charged with enforcing federal civil rights statutes in four areas: conditions of institutional confinement, law enforcement misconduct, access to reproductive health facilities and places of religious worship and protection of institutionalized persons' religious exercise rights.
It enforces the police misconduct provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which authorizes the attorney general to seek relief for a pattern or practice of illegal conduct by law enforcement agencies, or agencies responsible for the administration of juvenile justice.
The section also enforces the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, which authorizes the attorney general to initiate civil litigation to remedy discrimination based on race, color, national origin, gender or religion involving services by law enforcement agencies receiving financial assistance from the Department of Justice.
The section has successfully investigated and resolved allegations against police departments by taking a cooperative approach. But the attorney general is authorized to file lawsuits seeking court orders to reform police departments engaging in a pattern or practice of violating citizens' federal rights.
Strip-searches
In Warren, minority leaders have pressed for the federal officials to review a handful of police cases, some of which involve searches of minorities stopped for traffic and other causes. A half-dozen men filed lawsuits alleging illegal strip-searches; the city has spent $115,000 in the past year to settle them.
With the strip-search cases, Hicks said, it was obvious that "officers in some cases were not following Ohio law. Immediately we issued a cease-and-desist, issued new policies and did training."
Had the city not done something, then the section could, for example, seek corrective action, and then order it. "If you don't cooperate, they have power," he said.