Thursday, March 30, 2000
Officer apologizes for insult
He still faces discipline for UDF encounter
BY ROBERT ANGLEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hill
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A Cincinnati police officer who described Madisonville with a vulgar epithet apologized Wednesday to Cincinnati City Council.
“I would like to apologize to each and every person for the comments that I made about the community,” Officer Robert Hill III said in a written statement read by the president of the police union. “My comments were completely out of line. There is absolutely no excuse for what I said.”
During an internal probe into his body-slam arrest of a 68-year-old man with Alzheimer's in November, Officer Hill told investigators that his reputation for Macing people was a result of having to work in Madisonville.
“I have spent the last several days listening to (Police Chief Tom Streicher and Mayor Charlie Luken) and other city leaders apologizing for something that I said,” Officer Hill said in his statement Wednesday. “I made the remarks and I will accept the responsibility for them.”
Officer Hill, who is on desk duty pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing on possible use of excessive force in the arrest, did not attend the meeting because he first wants to personally apologize to the Madisonville Community Council.
Police union President Keith Fangman said Officer Hill, 32, feels he owes the residents of Madisonville a public apology.
Mr. Fangman also said he was sorry for the remarks, adding they “in no way represent the thoughts of the (union) and served only to cause hurt feelings.”
Since being hired by the city in 1997, Officer Hill has been disciplined for negligence in crashing a police cruiser and was warned for mishandling a suspect's money.
As a Warren County jail guard in 1996, Officer Hill was found in three administrative investigations to have lied, violated the chain of command by threatening a nurse and incited inmates to hurt another inmate. He resigned before two of the investigations were completed.
“To Chief Streicher and all members of the police division, my comments have placed a proud police division in a poor light,” Officer Hill said in his statement. “In the coming weeks, I will be making efforts to repair the relationship with the residents of Madisonville.”
Officer Hill made no mention of Robert Wittenberg, the man he slammed to the ground and who is suing the city for $2.25 million.
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