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Bowers sworn in as Warren chief
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NEW ERA: Warren Safety-Service Director Doug Franklin, left, delivers the oath of office to Tim Bowers, the city’s new police chief, as Mayor Mike O’Brien looks on. Bowers succeeds John Mandopoulos, who was forced from the office after a series of clashes with city leaders
By Ed Runyan
WARREN — Tim Bowers said he’s aware that the decisions he makes as police chief will have an impact on the city for years to come.
“After 31 years, to rise to the top of your department was a goal. I’ve achieved a goal. Now, what I do with it will become history,” he said Wednesday in city hall after taking the oath of office and becoming the city’s 10 police chief.
“In the current situation we all know we’re in economically, we’re going to continue to provide the basic police service to all of the citizens of Warren,” he said.
He later added that one of his goals is to try to keep the department at its current staffing level — 61 officers, including him — as the city copes with ongoing fiscal restraints.
“I think we’re in an all-time low in manpower,” Bowers said after the swearing-in, adding that at that level, he is trying to provide “basic law enforcement.”
The city reduced the department by 20 officers Jan. 1 to offset a budget deficit and eliminated most overtime a few months before that — an issue that produced conflict between the former police chief — John Mandopoulos — and members of the city administration and city council.
Mandopoulos eventually resigned after clashes with city Councilman Dan Crouse over staffing levels and with city Human Resources director Gary Cicero over Cicero’s coming into the police department to talk to workers about bumping rights related to layoffs.
Mayor Michael O’Brien said Wednesday he is confident that Bowers will deliver police service in “an extraordinary fashion.”
Mandopoulos was also chief when the U.S. Justice Department came into the city to investigate alleged civil-rights violations of black residents.
Thomas Conley, president of the Greater Warren-Youngstown Urban League, asked the city administration for new leadership in the police department at about the same time the Justice Department arrived.
It took five to six years for that new leadership to come, but Bowers appears capable of moving the department in a positive direction, Conley said after the swearing-in.
“We’re hoping we’ll be working together as a team to deal with problems or perceived problems in a positive way,” Conley said.
“I feel the choice is a good one,” he added.
Bowers, 54, of Cortland, will make $84,370 annually as chief. He made $90,703, including overtime, in 2008 as a captain. He earned the position by scoring highest of the two candidates who took a civil- service exam.
runyan@vindy.com