Sunday, June 22, 1997

Tough job, many critics

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The mission of the Cincinnati Police Division is to work in partnership with the citizens of the community to provide a safe environment where the quality of life may be improved through the delivery of fair and impartial police services. - CPD

BY JOHN HOPKINS
and MARK BRAYKOVICH
The Cincinnati Enquirer

When a gunman in Over-the-Rhine opened fire on a Cincinnati police officer one October night in 1995, it became one of 313 assaults on police that year.

The officer, with the window of his cruiser shattered and a bullet hole in the door, came close to joining a list of officers killed in the line of duty. He made it home to his family that day.

Fifteen Cincinnati officers since 1955 have not been as lucky.

It is a difficult situation, police say, chasing the criminals and keeping the peace while treading lightly under the scrutiny of the community. In addition, they are expected to carry out the role of a jack-of-all-trades.

"You have to be almost everything," said Terry Peirano, a 24-year veteran who has patrolled the streets of every district in the city. "You have to be a lawyer. You have to be a psychiatrist. You have to be a sociologist and a marriage counselor.

"And then you're kind of a child-care facility. You turn into an expensive baby sitter at times."

With a complement of about 984 sworn officers, the Cincinnati Police Division makes about 45,000 arrests a year. In the last six years, officers in Cincinnati have been physically assaulted more than 1,500 times and fired upon at least 41 times.

Each year in the United States an average of 150 officers are killed in the line of duty, according to Morton Feldman, executive vice president of the American Police Hall of Fame in Miami, Fla. Last year, there were 138.

Policing has changed.

"It's more dangerous now because there are more weapons out there now and there are more youngsters apt to shoot a cop now - and its mostly youngsters," said Mr. Feldman, an officer in South Florida for 33 years before retiring. "A key factor I see is that we have a much more violent society than when I was a young cop."

The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill has officers on the beat engaging in street psychiatry. Crack cocaine and other addictive drugs have changed the whole picture on the streets. And music now glorifies the killing of "cops."

Officer Peirano said Cincinnati officers received a certain amount of respect when he joined the force in 1973.

"People in general valued life more then than what they do today. One of the biggest problems we got is that when you walk up to a kid - with all the drugs and sales out there - just about everybody is carrying guns.

"I guess part of the problem is that they don't expect to live past 25 or 26, and I guess part of their attitude is that if they're going to go, they're going to take somebody with them."

The job has its inherent dangers. Recent history has taught police that in a split second, their lives can end.

In December 1975, Sgt. Robert Lally's night should have been routine. He was making simple checks of businesses along Colerain Avenue. But Sgt. Lally's teen-age son and daughter would lose a father that night. He was shot by a store owner - the second officer to die that year.

One of the biggest problems in the community/police relationship is a lack of understanding and appreciation for the complexities and dangers of an officer's job, says Pete Ridder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). The division continues to educate the public with programs such as the Citizens Police Academy, which is designed to provide an overview of the training received and functions performed by officers.

Community Oriented Policing (COP), introduced here in 1990, was also expected to bring the community and law enforcement closer in a partnership to combat drugs and violence. A five-member police review panel was formed to develop recommendations to address charges of racism on the force.

Still, when an incident such as the police shooting of Lorenzo Collins occurs, there is an unfair rush to judgment, Mr. Ridder said. Compounding the problem are individuals in the community with their own agendas who exploit an already explosive situations, he said.

"Why do people hire us? Because they don't want to do it. Because they're either unable, unskilled or too scared to do it. We see the worst in society. The public has got to understand that we're not a bunch of renegades."

In a matter of years, an officer, if not careful, can become warped dealing with "the baddest, maddest and saddest" that society has to offer, said Dr. Michael Mantell, a police consultant who has spent 17 years as a psychologist for police departments in Southern California.

He said more sophisticated departments use psychological screening during the fourth and fifth years of an officer's career, a time when most officers get into difficulties. It is that kind of screening that has help weed out any "Dirty Harry" mentalities.

"I don't think that mentality is as prevalent today as it used to be," said Dr. Mantell. "I think it was much more prevalent in the 70s and 60s. But I think as law enforcement has matured and become more sophisticated, we see less of the Rambo mentality."

Along with preemployment screening. Police receive 840 hours of instruction as recruits, which is nearly twice what the state requires. Recruits also undergo 169 hours of crisis training. And each year, they are required to take 40 hours of refresher courses.

"We get all that," said Mr. Ridder. "We get diversity training, too, but then we live it. Out there on the streets, we meet all kinds of people."