Seeking outside evaluation in cop vs. cop case isn’t a bad idea

The Boardman Township adminis- tration is coming under fire for hiring an outside investigator to evaluate a complaint filed by a Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department major and the major’s son following a confrontation during a Dec. 24 traffic stop.

We’re inclined to wait and read the investigator’s report before deciding that seeking an impartial outside opinion was a bad idea.

Boardman’s police chief, Jack Nichols, faced an unusual situation. The complaint in this case was filed by Major Leonard Sliwinski of the Sheriff’s Department regarding what he alleged was harsh treatment of his 25-year-old son, Lennie B. Sliwinski, during a traffic stop. The younger Sliwinski was a passenger in a car that was stopped and the driver taken into custody on suspicion of driving while impaired.

The elder Sliwinski was called to the scene by his son and the son was headed for his father’s truck when he made the mistake of sticking his head inside the cruiser to speak to his friend.

What was said, what was done and how the younger Sliwinski ended up on his backside and facing charges of obstructing official business and being an intoxicated pedestrian is a matter of contention between the Sliwinskis, two Boardman patrolmen and a Boardman police sergeant.

Opposing views

This was clearly not a case that lent itself to an internal investigation, since it essentially calls for judging the veracity of police officers from two agencies. Sliwinski claims a Boardman officer used profanity and undue force in dealing with his son. The police officer says the son had been told to stay in the car, but instead stuck his head in the cruiser and yelled at his friend, advising him not to take a sobriety test.

Sliwinski acknowledges that after his son fell, he exited his truck and asked the Boardman officers for “a little professional courtesy.” What courtesy, we wonder, would the Sliwinskis be eligible for that any private citizen wouldn’t have reason to expect under similar circumstances?

Atty. Kevin Powers, a lawyer for the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, has filed a separate complaint — against Chief Nichols. Powers suggests that the incident should have been handled within the department’s chain of command or by involving the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. Boardman Township administrator Jason Loree says that because BCI has a working relationship with both the Boardman Police Department and the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department, the decision was made to go to a third party.

BCI does great work, and if the private investigator hired by the township uncovers evidence that warrants a further criminal investigation, it might yet be necessary to call upon that agency.

But for now, it would seem that the most prudent thing would be for everyone involved to cooperate with the investigation and see where it leads.