POLICE Former officer files complaint over hiring procedures

By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A former police detective sergeant filed legal action against the city and mayor contending he was improperly passed over for a job on the force.
Dennis Haines, attorney for James M. Conroy of Louise Rita Court, filed a mandamus complaint Thursday against Youngstown and Mayor George M. McKelvey in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The complaint says state laws were violated when the city hired those who scored lower than Conroy on the most recent written civil service test to be police officers.
The legal action seeks the city and the mayor to appoint Conroy to a police officer position with back pay or show why Conroy wasn't hired.
The department hired three officers about three months ago.
Conroy finished sixth on the police test conducted by the city's civil service commission for those jobs, his legal action states.
Conroy's claims
State law requires McKelvey to make appointments to the department from the 10 highest scoring applicants on the written test before the mayor can hire those who scored lower, according to Conroy's court filing.
McKelvey appointed applicants who didn't finish in the top 10 on the test to the police department posts, a state law violation, according to Conroy's claim.
McKelvey couldn't be reached Friday to comment on Conroy's legal action. City Law Director Iris Guglucello said she hadn't seen a copy of the complaint and couldn't comment.
The department fired Conroy in March 2000 for ordering a man's arrest as retribution for testifying against him in an internal affairs investigation, according to Vindicator files.
Two months earlier, he was promoted to detective sergeant.
Conroy, who joined the force in 1992, fought the termination and has sought reinstatement to the police department. He received $12,443 in severance pay from the city in April 2001.
skolnick@vindy.com