43
Warren police release report
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Warren Police Department has slowly restored staffing to a detective bureau that suffered extreme cutbacks when 20 police officers were laid off in 2009.
From a staffing level of three detectives and two supervisors in 2009, the bureau had four detectives and three supervisors in 2010.
And though the department isn’t investigating the number of cases it did before the layoffs, it has solved a higher percentage of crimes in 2010 than it did in 2009, the recently completed police department annual report says.
Detectives investigated 407 cases in 2010 ranging from murder and rape to bad checks and disorderly conduct and solved 199 of them, or 49 percent.
In 2009, the department solved 141 cases out of 395, or 36 percent. In 2008, the year before the layoffs, the department solved 42 percent of its 580 cases. The department had nine detectives that year.
At the time the department dropped from nine detectives to three, it dropped from 81 police officers to 61.
On Monday, the department will take a step back up, bringing four officers back from layoff, bringing department staffing level to 65.
The returning patrolmen are Brian Cononico, Eric Laprocina, John Wilson and Mark Krempasky.
Late this month, two officers are retiring — Sgt. Richard McAllise and patrolman Joe Dixon — and another laid-off officer will be brought back to replace one of them.
Tim Bowers, Warren’s police chief, says he is thrilled his department’s manpower is rising, though it will remain well below the 84 officers called for by industry standards.
Bowers said the recalled officers will be assigned to patrol duties within a couple of weeks after their return to work. The first couple weeks will be orientation and retraining.
The annual report also contains statistics pointing out that the part of the city that receives the most calls for service was the 4th Ward, with 8,907. The 4th Ward takes in part of downtown as far north as Washington Street, east as far as Adelaide Avenue, and south as far as the city limits and west to the Mahoning River.
The other totals are Sixth Ward, (southwest) 6,039; 2nd Ward (north side), 5,322; 1st Ward (northwest), 4,820; 5th Ward (southeast), 4,701; 7th Ward (West Side), 4,597; and Third Ward (northeast), 2,980.
Bowers noted that calls for service doesn’t necessarily translate into crimes. The 4th Ward has a lot of calls for service in part because the downtown area gets a lot of calls related to traffic stops and events, such as concerts at the amphitheater.