4 Warren police officers suspended

By Ed Runyan | August 4, 2009 at 12:09a.m.

The city administration is thinking of leaving one of the sergeant positions empty.

WARREN — Sgt. Emanuel Nites of the Warren Police Department will be demoted from sergeant to patrolman, resulting in a $3.35 an hour drop in pay, and be suspended without pay for 10 days for coaching and watching youth basketball games while on the clock as a policeman.

Three of Nites’ supervisors will be suspended without pay for varying lengths of time for covering for Nites and falsifying Nites’ time sheets.

Acting Police Chief Tim Bowers handed down the punishment in letters dated Friday to Sgt. Nites, Sgt. Michael Albanese, Sgt. Dan Mason and Lt. Eric Merkel. The letters were released to the public Monday.

The letters say Nites’ reduction in rank will take effect Aug. 8, while Albanese will be suspended for five days, Sgt. Mason will be suspended for 20 days and Lt. Merkel will be suspended for 10 days.

No date has been set for the suspensions to be served.

Bowers found Nites guilty of absence without leave, failing to report at the beginning of his work shift, and conducting private business while on duty for attending 14 basketball games in January, February and March while on duty.

As a patrol officer, his pay will drop from $27.32 per hour to $23.97 per hour.

Sgt. Jeff Cole, internal affairs officer, said the games were in Niles, Windham, Girard, Solon, Howland and Warren Township. Nites was coaching some of the games involving his son and watching a high school game involving his daughter.

“These are good men that are still capable of serving the city, but they’re not going to do this anymore. If they do, they won’t be employed at all,” Bowers said during a news conference Monday.

All four have the right to appeal the punishment.

“The corrective measures I took in my mind do exactly that — they correct the unwanted behavior,” Bowers said.

Bowers said the city’s law department examined the issue and determined that their actions did not warrant criminal charges.

Doug Franklin, the city’s service-safety director, said he will consult with the city’s civil-service commission to see whether it is possible to leave Nites’ sergeant position unfilled on the grounds that the department is “top heavy” with supervisers.

The department has 60 police officers, 23 of them in supervision.

The department saw a reduction of 20 police officers effective Jan. 1 because of budget cuts.

Administrative charges against the men said Albanese and Merkel each falsified documents once for Nites, 11 times for Mason.

In six of the 14 infractions cited, Nites did not report for roll call at the beginning of his shift because of the games, and on eight occasions he left work sometime during the shift to attend the games.

runyan@vindy.com