Tuesday, June 24, 1997
Proposed improvements
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Several proposals have been made or are being considered on how to improve the Cincinnati Police Division and/or oversight of the division. Some additional ones also are suggested below. The pros and cons of those proposals:
Let the city manager appoint the police chief of his choice.
PRO:
Would give the city manager the power to dismiss a chief who was not responsive to the needs and wishes of the community. Would allow for more diverse candidates than the present system, in which the city manager chooses the chief based on a test score taken by the assistant chiefs. It also could pave the way for a black or female police chief. To date, all of the assistant chiefs who have taken the test have been white males.
CON:
Could politicize the selection process and the police chief's job, since the city manager answers to city council. Also, the safety director already is appointed by the city manager and is the chief's boss - why would this change produce different results?
Give more continuing training to existing police officers in race relations, dealing with the mentally ill and other areas of community concern.
PRO:
Could ensure that officers' skills do not diminish and that they do not lose sensitivity to community needs.
CON:Training requires taking officers off the street, a move some don't want to make. Ten hours of training a year for approximately 1,000 officers means 10,000 police/hours reduction in on-duty services.
Give the city's citizens police review panel investigative and subpoena powers.
PRO:
The panel would have more power to investigate allegations of police misconduct, and not be reliant on information gained in prior investigations by police internal investigators and/or the city's Office of Contract Compliance and Investigations (OCCI).
CON:
With two systems already in place to investigate alleged police misconduct, is there a need for another? The work would likely be duplicative and, for the citizens review panel, time-consuming.
Reform Civil Service so that the Police Division and other government agencies do not have such a difficult time disciplining and/or firing employees who fail to meet the standards of their jobs.
PRO:
Allow fewer appeals of discipline to ensure that those not doing the job get the appropriate punishment.
CON:
Employees and the unions that support them would argue that Civil Service and other built-in protections, such as binding arbitration of grievances, are essential to ensure that police officers and others receive fair treatment.
Place greater emphasis on the police division's community relations effort.
PRO:
Much of what divides the black community and the police is based on perception by African-Americans that they are mistreated and their complaints are unheard. Greater community relations can only help dissolve that perception.
CON:
Police division officials say they already are trying hard to reach out to the community through various programs. Also, the police force is using community-oriented policing, yet the perception of mistreatment lives on. There is no guarantee that more programs and more outreach will change attitudes.
Require that Cincinnati Police Division employees - including the police chief - reside in the city.
PRO:
It makes officers and police officials work in the community they live in and, as a result, gives them greater respect and sensitivity for the people they deal with.
CON:
Recruiting officers could be more difficult if the city imposed residency requirements. Some high-caliber prospects might look elsewhere for work rather than live in the city.
Today's coverage
Police- racial issues 'can be worked out' STORY
City hasn't made use of its own expert STORY
Investigative office 'definitely failing,' Winburn says STORY
Improvements in police oversight STORY
Proposed improvements STORY
Sunday's coverage
Police probing police absolve themselves STORIES
Monday's coverage
Police suits settled cheaply STORY
Making of the series
1,400 cases reviewed STORY
Police response STORY
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