BY ADAM WEINTRAUB
and TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Lorenzo Collins
|
University of Cincinnati police officers knew that Lorenzo Collins had mental problems and had been menacing other patients on Feb. 23, the day he escaped from University Hospital and was mortally wounded by police.
But through a series of communication breakdowns, that information never reached the Cincinnati Police officers who joined the pursuit of the Avondale man, according to university police audiotapes obtained Thursday by The Enquirer.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters - who announced Wednesday that Cincinnati Officer Douglas Depodesta and UC Officer John Engel had committed no crime when they fatally shot Mr. Collins - has said that if police had information about Mr. Collins' mental state, it might have prevented his death.
A federal review of the case and administrative investigations by the city of Cincinnati and UC continue.
At Greater New Light Baptist Church in Avondale, 12 men representing black ministers of Cincinnati said they would lead rallies to have Officers Depodesta and Engel fired.
The tapes, of phone conversations with the university police dispatcher and of radio transmissions, show at least three places where communications broke down:
A university police dispatcher told a Cincinnati 911 operator that Mr. Collins was being held on a "state mental hold" and a "police hold." She did not tell the operator that the charge against Mr. Collins was theft. But after she answered another phone call and radio calls she found she had been disconnected. Close to three minutes passed before she was again connected.
While the dispatcher talked with Cincinnati 911, radio transmissions reflect that a university officer spotted Mr. Collins, 25, in the hospital lobby and began chasing him. More than 90 seconds elapsed before other university officers became aware of the chase.
The radio tapes show that the UC dispatcher made a broadcast to all UC police units, including the fact that Mr. Collins was being observed for mental problems, before he made it out of the hospital. It is unclear whether all those officers had heard the earlier broadcast about Mr. Collins' mental problems.
The university police officer who chased Mr. Collins when he left the hospital directly notified Cincinnati Police units about the pursuit as he left the campus, by switching his radio to a city police frequency, the tapes indicate. His broadcast did not mention Mr. Collins' mental problems or that Springdale wanted him for theft.
It appears from the tapes that his broadcast occurred at about the same time the university dispatcher was talking to the 911 center.
"I don't know whether the officer knew that (Mr. Collins had mental problems)," said Eugene Ferrara, UC director of public safety.
Mr. Ferrara has declined to discuss the case in detail until the university's investigation is complete, probably next month.
The escape from the locked eighth-floor unit was reported to campus police by Paul Anson, a ward nurse, at 3:47 p.m. He said Mr. Collins had walked out with a group of visitors about eight minutes earlier.
"The guy's been threatening people up here and we certainly weren't equipped to subdue this guy. . . ." Mr. Anson told the dispatcher.
The UC dispatcher broadcast a message about Mr. Collins, including information about his mental problems, to all east campus police units by about 3:50 p.m. Mr. Ferrara said that broadcast could have been picked up by all campus police.
By about 3:53 p.m. the dispatcher was telling a Cincinnati 911 operator about the missing patient and the police and mental holds on him. But she lost the connection after picking up an outside call. She called the 911 center again.
As a second operator fetched the original operator, radio calls indicate the chase had moved to a parking lot at Piedmont and Highland avenues.
About a minute later, after Cincinnati units were notified by the UC officer over the citywide radio channel, another UC officer called the dispatcher with word that Cincinnati's cars were "going hot," or running with lights and sirens.
Repercussions continued in the community Thursday after Mr. Deters' ruling.
The Baptist Ministers Conference, NAACP and other groups say the review under way by the Justice Department is not enough.
"This thing has got to go to another level," said Sam Moore, vice president of administration at the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati.
The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, pastor of Greater New Light, said his group demands a citizens review board with subpoena power "so everyone has to tell the truth;" dispatch of black and white supervisors to tense situations; and a residency rule so more officers live in the neighborhoods they patrol.
"It's time we stopped playing games," said the Rev. James W. Jones, pastor of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. "Passing the buck does not solve any problems."
The ministers' rallies are scheduled for noon today at Fountain Square; 7 p.m. Monday at Greater New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 3655 Harvey Ave., Avondale; and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at New Friendship Baptist Church, 3212 Reading Road, Avondale.
William A. Weathers contributed to this report.
POLICY ON POLICE HOLDS UNCLEAR
Previous stories
POLICE SUMMARY OF THEIR INVESTIGATION May 29, 1997
DIAGRAM OF THE SHOOTING SCENE May 29, 1997
NINE MINUTES OF CONFUSION: THE SHOOTING OF LORENZO COLLINS May 27, 1997
DIAGRAM RECONSTRUCTING THE EVENTS May 27, 1997
TRAINING, POLICIES AND POLICE ACTION May 27, 1997
WHY DID THE COPS KILL LORENZO? Peter Bronson column, May 25, 1997
BORGMAN CARTOON May 25, 1997
PUSH FOR POLICE REVIEW FEARED May 9, 1997
FBI TO REVIEW COLLINS CASE May 8, 1997
MARCHERS VOW SEASON OF DISRUPTIONS May 5, 1997
PROSECUTORS GET REPORT ON FATAL SHOOTING April 29, 1997
SHOOTING PROTESTERS ALLEGE POLICE BRUTALITY April 17, 1997
DEMONSTRATORS CITE SHOOTING OF MENTAL PATIENT March 24, 1997
BAPTIST MINISTERS PROTEST AGAINST POLICE March 20, 1997
LAWSUIT SEEKS $5 MILLION March 13, 1997
PUNISH POLICE, MARCHERS URGE March 5, 1997
FATAL SHOOTING CONCERNS COMMUNITY March 2, 1997
PROBE: POLICE FIRED FOUR SHOTS AT MAN WITH BRICK Feb. 25, 1997
MAN SHOT BY POLICE AFTER CHASE Feb. 24, 1997
