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Warren chief, captain support officer in principal's ticket dispute
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Police Chief Eric Merkel and Capt. Jeff Cole both say they are “100 percent” behind the school-resource officer who wrote a parking ticket for a Jefferson K-8 School principal who parked in a handicap parking space Jan. 8.
Steve Bosel, head of security for the school district, escorted patrolman Adam Chinchic off the grounds Jan. 8.
Chinchic warned Carrie Boyer, one of the school’s principals, multiple times not to park there after seeing her car in a space reserved for people with physical disabilities, Cole said. She has not indicated she has a disability.
Chinchic has been working road patrol since the incident, and it’s unclear whether he will return to school-resource-officer duties or continue with road patrol, Merkel said.
The police department normally has six school resource officers, but it is currently covering all five Warren schools with five, Cole said.
On Friday, Merkel, Warren Mayor Doug Franklin and Safety Service Director Enzo Cantalamessa will meet with Warren Superintendent Steve Chiaro and his business manager, Mike Wasser, to discuss the incident and other issues, Merkel said.
When asked Wednesday about the controversy, Chiaro said he “would fully expect Chief Merkel to stand behind the actions of officer Chinchic enforcing [a] Warren city ordinance.”
A statement issued through the school district’s public-information office said the incident began with Bosel, who supervises school-resource officers, notifying the school district central office that Boyer was being issued a parking violation.
“With this in mind ... Chiaro believed this would have an adverse effect on the necessary relationship between the SRO and the principal, to whom he reports at the building. This prompted the decision to notify ... Chinchic and his SRO supervisor that he would no longer be assigned to Jefferson.”
The statement says, “At no time did Boyer contest the ticket.”
It adds that it is “unfortunate that we were not able to fully discuss the school resource officer change with police officials before the change was made public. It is our belief that hasty discussions about this incident resulted in misinformation circulating.”
The statement says, “Superintendent Steve Chiaro regrets any ill feelings this may have caused officer Chinchic and his colleagues at the Warren Police Department.”
In an interview, Merkel said he can’t understand Chiaro treating Chinchic the way he did.
“He treated him worse than I would have, and he’s my employee,” Merkel said.
Regarding that, Chiaro said the interaction between officer Chinchic and district officials was “polite and respectful, even concluding with a handshake.”
The school district released a video and still frame from school surveillance cameras showing Chinchic leaving the school with Bosel. The still frame shows the handshake.
Traci Timko Sabau of the Warren Law Department said the school district and police department have disagreed in recent months regarding the role of police officers in the school district, and “it’s important that the two entities get ‘on the same page’” on the issue.
The police department and school district have been in negotiations regarding a new memorandum of understanding between the police department and schools. The previous one expired at the end of the last school year.
The proposed next agreement contains language reducing the authority of police officers while working in the schools, she said.
Boyer had not paid the ticket as of Tuesday, according to Warren Municipal Court. The ticket includes a $250 fine.
Cole said he believes the school resource-officer program is important because it improves school safety and creates positive relationships among the police department and the city’s children.