A Cincinnati police officer's dismissal last summer for subduing an Alzheimer's patient too vigorously should be converted to a one-week suspension without pay, an arbitrator has concluded.

        The decision directs the Cincinnati Police Division to reinstate Officer Robert J. Hill III, grant him back pay and reinstate his benefits.

Hill

        Police Chief Tom Streicher said that he is still convinced that the officer's conduct was “completely inappropriate,” but that his personal beliefs do not matter in the case.

        “We're obliged to follow that decision,” he said.

        The report concludes that Officer Hill acted in an “objectively reasonable manner” when he threw Robert Wittenberg of Silverton to the floor at a convenience store in Madisonville in September 1999.

        Mr. Wittenberg, then 68, wandered away from his Silverton home, went into a United Dairy Farmers store and muttered something about someone needing help.

        According to the arbitration report, a dispatcher “embellished” the conditions at the scene, relaying to officers that an intoxicated man was inside threatening to hurt people with a drill and a paint brush.

        “Under the circumstances it was reasonable for the (officer) to conclude it would be necessary to attempt to gain control of the situation,” the arbitrator said in his report.

        Using language from a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision, the arbitrator said that reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of the officer in the situation, and not hindsight.

        And allowances must be made for the fact that officers are often forced to make split-second judgments in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving, he said.

        “The evidence ... indicates that Officer Hill responded to a radio run characterized as a weapons run,” the report says, “suggesting that the subject was armed with a weapon and threatening to harm others in the UDF.”

        While there is cause to discipline the officer for certain other misconduct, his actions did not rise to the level of dismissal, the arbitrator wrote.
       

Officer erred
        The report said Officer Hill should be disciplined for:

        • Not notifying the dispatcher when he arrived at the convenience store.

        • Using profanity and making derogatory comments about the citizens of Madisonville during an interview with investigators.

        • Sending a computer message to another officer saying, “Beat three ain't soft.”

        The arbitrator said the comment was not professional and suggests that patrol officers responsible for the beat, or assignment, are “tough individuals who push the envelope with perpetrators.”

        But the analysis cannot stop there, the arbitrator said: Another officer initiated the messaging and was given only a written reprimand. Presumably the treatment of Officer Hill was different because of the other charges against him.

        While the arbitrator found Officer Hill guilty of violating the rule of acting professionally, that misconduct alone could not be the basis for dismissal.

        Chief Streicher said that Officer Hill will come back to the division at the same rank but that his assignment has not been decided. It may be patrol-related or another assignment with less public contact.

        The chief plans to talk to the officer to emphasize the need for proper conduct.

        “Any future violations will be dealt with in the exact same way as this one,” Chief Streicher said.

        Donald C. Moore, the Wittenbergs' lawyer, said the family is disappointed in the arbitrator's decision.

        “We never dreamt that this would be the outcome,” he said. “Mary (Mr. Wittenberg's wife) is beside herself. She is just appalled.”

        The Wittenbergs go to trial April 30 in their civil suit against Officer Hill and the city of Cincinnati.

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