Police the community with fairness and justice

It�s a hard and dangerous job. But, those who have chosen to become law enforcement officers must perform their jobs with integrity, character and fairness.

That also goes for the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD).

Allegations of an unofficial work slowdown by some members of the CPD recently surfaced and the statistics back-up the allegations. In June police made more than 2,500 fewer arrests for nonviolent crimes such as disorderly conduct compared to last June, according to police statistics. Arrests for violent crimes, such as murder and arson dropped slightly, to 487 from 502, despite a reported 20 percent increase in such crimes over the previous June.

The decline in arrests and increase in crime can be attributed to the "who cares" attitude of some officers. It also provides such arrogant officers a means to an end. Pulling out of the community signals to criminal elements that the coast is clear. As crime goes up and police come back in to the rescue, as the CPD did with the emergence of the Violent Crimes Task Force, the community now welcomes them with open arms and squashes any justified criticism of unprofessional police conduct.

Top police brass should be jumping up and down in response to the statistics that show a police disregard for the safety of the Black community. But since the chief didn�t make a big stink about this funky situation, the message from him is also clear.

Chief Tom Streicher, responding to the slowdown, said he continues to stress his support for his officers and hopes they continue to be good officers.

"It�s a tough time right now. They�re just not feeling a lot of support," he said.

Fraternal Order of Police President Keith Fangman was more direct in a message in their FOP newsletter: "If you want to make 20 traffic stops a shift and chase every dope dealer you see, you go right ahead," he wrote. "Just remember that if something goes wrong, or you make the slightest mistake in that split second, it could result in having your worst nightmare come true for you and your family, and City Hall will sell you out."

When Black community activists expressed anger at police following the April shooting of Timothy Thomas, 19, who was unarmed, they were saying that such a thing was happening too often. They were asking, why aren�t white youths ending up dead from police bullets, or is it that white youths don�t commit crimes? It is the unfair and unbalanced approach to policing the Black community that the leaders were addressing.

It appeared that the response was starting on the right track, with police meeting with community and political leaders.

Then this slowdown.

Additionally, the CPD was recently criticized by members of the city�s civilian police oversight board for trying to control what is told to federal investigators.

The acting chair of the Citizens Police Review Panel, Paul DeMarco, said city officials�including the city manager and police administrators�have for years blocked their efforts to conduct thorough reviews of police misconduct cases.

The panel�s charge is to review investigations of police misconduct given to it by the city�s Office of Municipal Investigations and the police Internal Investigations Section. In addition, the panel is supposed to receive a copy of all citizen complaints about police officers. A local paper recently revealed that hundreds of complaints were being filed every year without any outside review.

Trying to block a panel whose job is to get to the bottom of complaints against the police department implies that there is something to hide.

Letting the truth fall where it may�whether it�s from the results of the police review panel or contained in criticism from Black leadership�can only help a police department in need of a better image.

Failure to listen to the truth can only lead to another uprising ... or worse.

FinalCall.com