BY ADAM WEINTRAUB
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Marcia Shaw stood Thursday at the corner of Vine Street and Central Parkway with a 2-by-3-foot sign bearing a single word: "Thanks." The word echoed back at her dozens of times from the hundreds of officers who marched past during Thursday's Police Memorial parade.

"Thank you," came the reply from the ranks as the marchers, their badges taped in black to remember fallen comrades, wound toward a service at the police memorial on Ezzard Charles Drive.

"I come to the parade every year, just to say 'Thanks, guys,' " said Ms. Shaw, of West Price Hill. "I think you always hear the negative aspects, but you don't hear enough of the positive. We need to tell them every day" that police are appreciated.

Recent criticism of the police division has swirled over the fatal shooting of mental patient Lorenzo Collins and the investigation of Sgt. John Sess after he admitted planting evidence in a 1984 drug case.

At a ceremony on Fountain Square before the parade, Cincinnati Police Chief Michael Snowden was blunt in his criticism of protesters who have called for an investigation of Cincinnati Police and alleged widespread brutality.

Chief Snowden, without naming names, accused some protesters of abusing their First Amendment free speech rights for financial or political gain.

"Like most rhetoric, however, there are no facts to support these outrageous allegations," Chief Snowden said. "The truth is, we do a remarkable job, day in and day out, without the use of force and without abusing our citizenry."

While members of the media and protesters have focused on cases where criminal suspects have died in contacts with police, the chief said, no one has discussed the 95 Cincinnati officers who have died in the line of duty since 1846. "It's a sad commentary on our society that we are so quick to remember the criminals who have died unwillingly and forget the heroes who gave their lives willingly," he said.

The day's events continued with the 30th annual Police Appreciation and Achievement Awards dinner at the Cincinnati Marriott in Sharonville. Former Los Angeles Police Detective Philip Vannatter, best known for his work on the O.J. Simpson case, was guest speaker.

Mr. Vannatter empathized with the embattled Cincinnati police force, explaining that one controversial case - like that of O.J. Simpson and locally, of Lorenzo Collins - can taint the public's perception of police.

"I solved about 70 to 80 percent of the hundreds of homicide cases I investigated (during 27 years with the LAPD) and had a 90 percent conviction rate, but all anyone wants to talk about is O.J. Simpson," said Mr. Vannatter, who lives with wife Rita in nearby Vevay, Ind.

"It was America's greatest soap opera - it had sex, money, celebrity, violence, everything."

The retired detective warned officers that lawyers and journalists will always attack their integrity, especially in notorious cases. Reporter Dana DiFilippo contributed.

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