Message from the top

The city of Warren is expending considerable time and money on training courses for members of the police department, a response to years of complaints and a spate of lawsuits connected to how some police officers deal with the public.
The city should save its money.
We say that not because we believe training is a bad thing. Certainly not because we believe everything is perfect. We say it because until there is a change at the top of the department, spending money on training the troops does as much good as standing on the Summit Street Bridge and dropping dollar bills into the Mahoning River.
Once again this past week, Warren Police Chief John Mandopoulos demonstrated that he is unwilling or unprepared to set a proper example for the officers he commands. And Mandopoulos claims to have already completed most of the 40 hours of training that each member of the department is supposed to take.
The chief has not yet taken disciplinary action against a city police officer who was caught on videotape last year using a racial slur, and refuses to say if or when any action might be taken.
Caught on tape
The tape in question was made May 24, 2003, by Charlie Adams, a friend of LaShawn Ziegler's, who operated the 77 Soul nightclub. Mandopoulos and Patrol Officer Manny Nites are seen sticking their faces into the camera lens -- which Mandopoulos dismissed as joking around -- and Nites can be heard on the tape using a racial slur and calling the cameraman a snitch.
"I'll handle it when I get around to it," Mandopoulos said last week. "I'm tired of working 16 to 18 hours a day. I'm only one person. I'll do what I got to do."
If Mandopoulos has been working 16 or 18 hours days for more than a year, it seems he should have been able to find a few hours to address the issue of one of his police officers using a racial slur against a citizen.
That he hasn't sends a message that he believes the use of racial slurs by on-duty officers is no big thing. As long as the chief is sending that message, the city can look forward to a future of more citizen complaints and more expensive lawsuits filed by citizens who believe their rights are being violated.