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Warren chief faces choice
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Warren police chief John Mandopolous
By Ed Runyan
The chief said he would not appeal the ruling to the civil service commission.
WARREN — Police Chief John Mandopoulos has been given a choice of accepting a 30-day suspension without pay, writing an apology or appealing his punishment to the Warren Civil Service Commission for remarks he made to Councilman at-large Dan Crouse in August.
Crouse could not be reached to comment on the chief’s discipline.
The choices were offered to Mandopoulos in a letter Tuesday from Warren Mayor Michael O’Brien and Safety-Service Director Doug Franklin.
Mandopoulos would not say Wednesday what his next move will be. One thing he won’t do, he said, however, is appeal the punishment to the civil service commission.
“I can’t afford to appeal. I would have to pay out of my own pocket, and that would be more [expensive] than 30 days’ pay,” he said.
The cost to Mandopoulos for losing 30 calendar days of pay would be about $7,030. His annual salary is $84,370.
The letter orders Mandopoulos suspended starting Sunday unless he apologizes to Crouse in writing by Friday, in which case his suspension would be reduced to a written reprimand.
Mandopoulos was called to a hearing Sept. 26 before Franklin to answer to charges the chief failed to obey Franklin’s orders and demonstrated conduct unbecoming an officer.
The charges stemmed from a letter Crouse wrote to Franklin that accuses Mandopoulos of bursting into a council committee room Aug. 19 and yelling at Crouse about “taking me to parts of town where I had never sold a home” and “many silly accusations about talking behind his back.” Crouse is a real-estate salesman.
That confrontation occurred after elimination of most overtime for city departments brought on by a budget deficit. Crouse was quoted in a local newspaper saying he wanted to know why Mandopoulos wasn’t taking a turn as patrolman himself in situations where lack of overtime left the city inadequately protected.
Crouse also said Mandopoulos, in a television interview, called the councilman names and threatened him.
The reprimand letter says Mandopoulos will be granted time to make and file an explanation with the civil service commission, as allowed by civil service rules, and time for the commission to respond to it.
Meanwhile, Mandopoulos said he doesn’t understand why Crouse had such a serious reaction to what Mandopoulos said this past summer.
“I was laughing when I said it,” Mandopoulos said, adding, “We’ve known each other for years.”
As for Mandopoulos, 60, filling in for his officers, he says he has probably written more traffic citations in his seven years as police chief than any other police chief in the area and has documented around 1,000 calls he has personally responded to during that time.
When asked whether he would apologize to Crouse, Mandopoulos said, “What’d I do to apologize?”