WARREN — On the same day that the Warren Civil Service Commission approved a request from the city administration to schedule a promotional exam for a new police chief, the commission heard a plea from the former chief to rescind his resignation.
Former police chief Eric Merkel said his resignation was forced and handled improperly, but the commission refused by a 3-0 vote to rescind the resignation.
When Commission Member Dan Letson., an attorney, invited Merkel to discuss his reasons for asking for the resignation to be rescinded, Merkel first noted that he had not been notified “on what was going to happen at this meeting.”
He said a friend advised him where the meeting was taking place or he would have gone to the wrong location.
Then Merkel discussed one of the main points Merkel raised in his Sept. 1 letter to the commission — a complaint filed against Merkel by what Merkel called “a disgruntled former detective” in the Warren Police Department.
Merkel said the complaint moved quickly from the officer to a police lieutenant and to City Hall, “which is a complete violation of the public-complaint policy. The city never investigated any of this,” Merkel said. The way it was handled “virtually violated every sentence” of the policy, Merkel said.
Merkel said Safety and Service Director Eddie Colbert visited Merkel around 2 p.m. July 8 just after the complaint was sent to City Hall. Merkel said Colbert discussed potential punishments.
Merkel noted that he never received a copy of the complaint, as Merkel said he should have, which prompted Letson to ask if Merkel ever asked for a copy. Merkel said he got a copy from a law firm “well after the fact.”
The complaint from officer Frank Tempesta alleged several instances in which Merkel claimed six hours of overtime at OVI checkpoints while absent, including one in 2025 and three in 2026.
The complaint also alleged that Merkel texted a digital image, often called a GIF, to Tempesta that depicted a “juvenile black child holding a sign that stated ‘MY FAVOURITE KIND OF BERRIES ARE ROBBERRIES.’” The complaint stated that the GIF “has severely undermined (Merkel’s) credibility to lead the Warren Police Department regarding racial allegations.”
Merkel said within 24 hours of the complaint being filed, he was in Mayor Doug Franklin’s office with Franklin, Colbert and two people from the city’s Human Resources Department, and he had no union representative there to represent him.
Merkel said the issue of the checkpoints was “nothing. I don’t think the officer even understood that I’m on salary. I’m an administrator on checkpoints, along with Capt. (Rob) Massucci). We’re allowed to flex our hours around putting these checkpoints together.”
Merkel said at the meeting the city’s H.R. director, Brian Massucci, told Merkel he was going to be terminated if he did not resign. “I said ‘Why can’t I retire? (Colbert) said, ‘What would it look like to the public if … I was allowed to retire?’ They wanted me to resign.”
Merkel said he was six weeks short of being able to enter the police officer retirement program, called DROP. The city did allow him to postpone his separation date about six weeks.
Merkel said he signed the separation letter July 9, one day after the allegations surfaced. “I didn’t want to, but I felt I had to or I was going to lose all this money,” Merkel said. He has previously estimated about $75,000 was at stake.
He said he withdrew his resignation “at the (Warren) Law Department’s) direction.” But the city refused to allow him to withdraw the resignation. He then asked the Civil Service Commission to reinstate him.
He said he never received a copy of the city’s acceptance of his resignation letter until after his day as chief — about six weeks after he resigned.
Merkel asked that he be reinstated and “If the city has something to charge me with and terminate me with, go through the proper procedure. He said the process that was used was “basically just a termination.”
When Letson asked Merkel if he signed the resignation letter, Merkel said “Correct.” Merkel and Letson debated the statutes and case law as to whether the city has to reinstate a person in Merkle’s situation.
Letson said a civil service commission does not have a role “as fact finders. We’re not a judicial body. We don’t sit here and accept evidence. That’s for the court to do and for the court to make factual findings on the story you have for us today.”
Merkel said the city used “threats and duress” to get him to resign,” but Letson said that is “something for the courts to decide, not for us to decide. You signed the (resignation) letter. At that point, there would be no investigation.”
Letson added that Merkel “negotiated” his resignation, “benefitted from the negotiation. You’ve collected your $75,000 or you are eligible to take that.” Letson said he looks at the issue as a contract, and the city has “fully performed.”
But Merkel said, “I (had) no union representation, and I’ve got the four of these people (at City Hall) bum rushing me in this meeting. Civil Service should be looking at this and giving deference to the employee, not the city, who as you can see from A to Z on this thing screwed this up.”
Letson concluded by saying, “I don’t know where we go from here … other than you go avail yourself of your legal rights that you are entitled to from the story you described.” Neither of the two other civil service commission members, Orneil Heller and Dimitri Aggelis, had any questions for Merkel, and they voted 3-0 to deny reinstatement.
The commission also certified the 17 people who passed the most recent entry-level Warren police officer civil service exam, though the commission learned that four of those have withdrawn their applications since the list was generated.
The commission also approved a request from the city administration to schedule a promotional exam for police sergeant. The city will contract with Clancy and Associates to administer both promotional exams.
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