BY ADAM WEINTRAUB
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Sgt. John Sess

Cincinnati police Sgt. John Sess, who admitted to his supervisors he planted drugs on a suspect in 1984 and smoked marijuana years earlier, was fired Wednesday.

Mr. Sess, who joined the force as a cadet in 1973, was served with dismissal papers Wednesday afternoon. The formal administrative charges against him were failure of good behavior, neglect of duty and violating the police division's ethics code.

City Manager John Shirey ordered the firing, based on a recommendation from Safety Director Kent A. Ryan.

"This is just not the sort of behavior we can tolerate in our police division," Mr. Shirey said.

Mayor Roxanne Qualls said the firing would foster confidence in police. "This action sends the very clear message that Sgt. Sess' behavior is totally unacceptable regardless of how long ago it occurred," she said.

Mr. Sess made the admissions in April, before taking a polygraph examination as part of the screening for transfer to the Regional Enforcement Narcotics Unit, police have said.

When asked whether he had done anything improper as an officer, he described an incident in 1979 or 1980 when he smoked marijuana on a fishing trip, and a 1984 evidence tampering case, according to police records.

In the 1984 case, Mr. Sess admitted he took a bag of marijuana he found in his squad car and put it in a drug suspect's pocket or waistband. Shadarle Ragan, 42, pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking charge based on marijuana he threw down during a chase before then-Officer Sess caught him.

Mr. Ragan said last week he pleaded guilty to avoid a stiff sentence for violating probation in an earlier case and because he did not think anyone would believe police hid drugs on him.

Mr. Sess probably will appeal, either to the Civil Service Commission or a binding arbitrator, said Donald Hardin, his attorney through the local Fraternal Order of Police.

"This matter needs to go to an independent reviewer," Mr. Hardin said, noting the publicity around the case during a city election year. Laura Goldberg contributed.

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