Howland police chief, Trumbull sheriff pull no punches in sheriff’s race

By Ed Runyan | March 6, 2016 at 12:04a.m.

WARREN

Howland Police Chief Paul Monroe told the Trumbull County Democratic Party Central Committee in January that he decided to run for sheriff last year only because incumbent Thomas Altiere confided in him that he would not seek re-election.

Monroe expressed a sense of loyalty to Altiere, who hired Monroe at the beginning of Monroe’s 30-year career in Howland. Altiere was Howland chief from 1984 to 1993.

Altiere, 66, of Howland, later changed his mind about changing careers and becoming a real-estate agent in Florida, saying he realized he loved being sheriff too much to give it up.

But by then, “the train had left the station,” Monroe said during a recent interview with The Vindicator. Other people had committed to Monroe’s campaign for sheriff by then, and he wasn’t going to let them down, he said.

But in the heat of a political campaign, neither man is pulling any punches.

Monroe, 52, of Howland, says one of the problems with Altiere is his hiring of political cronies during his 22 years as sheriff.

“I will establish a standard for hiring,” Monroe said. “My goal will be to eliminate political patronage. In 13 years as Howland police chief, there are no political hires. They are the best person for the job.”

Monroe said he will handle hiring the same way as sheriff, including the people he will count on to lead the department under him.

“I’ve made no promises for who my staff will be,” Monroe said. Instead, he will form a hiring committee made up of the best people at each position such as detective, deputy and supervisor, and he will allow them to read the resumes and manage hiring. He will have veto power, though he says he has never needed to use it in Howland.

That strategy has empowered his command staff in Howland to take ownership of the department, he said.

“I do not have anyone who is not qualified to work in law enforcement,” Altiere countered. “If you don’t have the right people in the right places, things can go haywire.”

Altiere also says Monroe has zero experience in running a jail, one of the chief responsibilities of every sheriff in Ohio.

“He has no clue how a jail is run,” Altiere said. Monroe concedes lack of jail experience, saying, “I’m limited because of [lack of] access,” to the Trumbull jail.

Altiere points to several innovations that he believes show he’s a good sheriff: His office received free naloxone, the opiate-reversal drug, and his deputies are carrying it in their cruisers to save the lives of those who overdose.

His department is also “the only department in the county that treats all overdoses as a homicide,” Altiere said. The reason for doing this is to determine who sold deadly doses of drugs so the seller can be held accountable.

Altiere says his department may also be the only one in the country that provides the public with online access to information on every person who has ever been incarcerated at the jail. The site got thousands of hits the first week it was in place, Altiere said.

His department also assesses every domestic violence call to determine whether the victim should be referred to a Warren domestic-violence shelter.

“I’ve created new programs. I’ve used new technology,” Altiere said.

Altiere concedes he has “gotten rid of a lot of people over the years” who worked for him. A corrections officer was recently fired for buying street drugs. Another quit in 2009 after his girlfriend said he used heroin with her.

Former Chief Deputy Don Guarino resigned in 2013 after the Ohio Ethics Commission found that he improperly made decisions that affected the pay for his son, a deputy.

A jailer was fired in 2011 and sentenced to 30 days in the Ashtabula County jail after he had sex with a female inmate while on the job.

Monroe received the party’s endorsement 79 votes to 67 over Altiere.