Lamantia to leave crime bureau

The ex-Howland chief will stay with the attorney
general’s office.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

Former Howland Police Chief Steve Lamantia’s term as acting superintendent of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation is about to end.

But Lamantia will remain on Attorney General Marc Dann’s staff in a capacity not yet determined.

Dann, a Liberty Democrat, will announce the appointment of a new superintendent Thursday.

Lamantia’s replacement was selected after the attorney general conducted an “intense statewide search and interview statewide search and interview process and extensive background check,” said Leo Jennings, the office’s spokesman.

Lamantia will work with the incoming superintendent through a transition process, Jennings said.

Lamantia “was well qualified to do the job,” but he wasn’t interested in holding the job on a permanent basis, Jennings said.

Dann hired Lamantia for the interim position shortly after he was sworn in as attorney general Jan. 8. Lamantia’s annual salary is $84,011.

When he was first hired by Dann, Lamantia said he would also be interested in running the office’s Organized Crime Investigation Commission.

The commission creates task forces with local agencies to fight organized criminal operations in the areas of narcotics, money laundering and racketeering.

The BCI&I provides investigatory and laboratory assistance to local law enforcement agencies. The bureau is headquartered in London, a Columbus suburb, with four regional offices, including one in downtown Youngstown.

Lamantia spent 29 years with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, retiring in 1993 as commander of its Warren Northeast District. He was then hired as Howland police chief, a job he held until 2003.

skolnick@vindy.com