Cincinnati is nearly alone among similar-sized cities in limiting itself to inside candidates for police chief.

        Its ritual for selecting that person — exams, interviews and simulated command scenarios — has been in place for at least 25 years. Still, the process struck one expert as “a little odd” and another as “ridiculous.”

Capt. Cindy Combs and Lt. Col. Ron Twitty of the Cincinnati Police Division at the police memorial. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        This November, city voters will be asked to make some changes. A charter amendment pushed by the mayor, city council and African-American groups would give outsiders the chance to become Cincinnati's chief.

        Instead of being required to choose from within the ranks, the city manager would have the option of conducting national searches and evaluating applicants however he wished.

        The amendment, which would pass with a simple majority of yes votes, was endorsed on Friday by the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

        Cincinnati voters rejected a similar measure in 1997. This time, city officials have broadened the scope of the amendment. In addition to future police chiefs, it would apply to future fire chiefs, assistant police and fire chiefs and about 80 other city supervisors. All would be removed from the civil-service system, giving the city manager more latitude in hiring and firing for those positions.

        African-American activists have long called for such a change. Cincinnati is 43 percent black but has never had a black chief. In the wake of this year's civil unrest, fatal shootings and racial-profiling allegations, many say the city needs a fresh perspective on policing.

        “The last four or five police chiefs all have come from the west side of town,” says Scotty Johnson, president of the Sentinel Police Association, which represents black officers. “Not that that's a bad thing.

        “But I think a broader viewpoint is what will help change the public perception that the police department is still functioning in the good old boy network,” he says.

        Cincinnati police commanders, however, generally oppose any change in the system. And the Fraternal Order of Police, which officially represents the rank-and-file, fought the amendment in 1997.

        Partly as a result of racial diversity rules dating to the early 1980s, the police division is now 29 percent black and 20 percent female. There are six black and six female lieutenants, one black and two female captains and one black assistant chief.

TRUE OR FALSE?

The Enquirer examined the personnel files of all 1,026 Cincinnati police officers in June and July. Using these data along with civil-service records and interviews, the newspaper determined the truth behind some widely held beliefs about the police division.     Perception: Cincinnati's last four police chiefs have been from the west side of the city.    Reality: True.     The chiefs are: Tom Streicher, Elder High School graduate, serving 1999 to present; Mike Snowden, Western Hills High School graduate, 1992-1998; Lawrence Whalen, Elder, 1985-1992; and Myron J. Leistler, Western Hills, 1976-1985. Perception: Most Cincinnati police are from the west side of the city.    Reality: False.     Twenty percent of the force attended one of five high schools on the west side: Elder, Western Hills, Seton, Oak Hills or Mother of Mercy. An additional 50 percent attended other high schools throughout Hamilton County. The remaining 30 percent are from other parts of Ohio or other states. Perception: To become a Cincinnati police officer, your best bet is to attend the “Elder Police Academy,” a playful reference to Elder High School in Price Hill.    Reality: False.     Elder graduates represent 8 percent of the force overall. And because Elder is a nearly all-white, all-boys school, its graduates face tougher competition to join the force. Because of a court agreement to diversify, every recruit class must be 34 percent African-American and 23 percent female. This has meant that African-Americans and females have sometimes been accepted into the recruit class before white males with higher test scores.     Looking at the last recruit class, for instance, white males had scores ranging from 91.5 to 97.67 on the competitive exam to become a police officer. Black males' exam scores ranged from 74.33 to 87.33, and white and black females scored from 72.33 to 96.33, records show. Perception: Because of a court order related to affirmative action, African-Americans and women are frequently promoted ahead of white males with better test scores.    Reality: False.     This happens occasionally, but not frequently. The Enquirer examined promotion lists for sergeant, lieutenant, and captain from 1993 to present. During this period, affirmative action led to the promotion of six African-American men and three white women whose test scores would otherwise have kept them from being promoted. No black women were so promoted. But 32 black men, seven black women and 21 white women were promoted without assistance from affirmative action rules because their test scores were high enough to place them among top candidates.

        “We're much more diverse and open than people give us credit for. We're finally in a position where we can draw from that talent pool,” says Capt. Cindy Combs, who placed third in the 1999 competition for chief.

        She and others tick off a list of concerns about the charter amendment.

        The clamoring for an outsider means inside candidates wouldn't have a fair shot, they say. Morale would suffer. Without civil-service protection, chiefs would be vulnerable to political attacks. And if those chiefs came from other cities, they wouldn't know Cincinnati's neighborhoods or the personalities within the division.

        Police Chief Tom Streicher has not said when he might retire, and there is no talk of his imminent departure. Still, he opposes the amendment.

        “Selecting a police chief from inside the agency gives that chief a good foundation, a solid base of operations,” says Mr. Streicher, who was promoted in 1999 and would not be affected if the amendment passed.

        “I think it's the system we need.”        

Few places left

        It's not the one used in most other parts of the country, however.

        The Enquirer surveyed 51 cities with populations ranging from 234,000 to 656,000. (Cincinnati's population is 331,285.) The cities were asked whether their mayors or city managers had the option of conducting national searches to find police chiefs.

        Besides Cincinnati, only three of the cities — St. Louis, Tulsa, Okla., and Bakersfield, Calif. — did not have the option of an outside chief.

        Cities with the option included Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, N.C.; Memphis, Milwaukee, Norfolk, Va.; Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City and Portland, Ore.

        “There are very few places left in the country that limit chiefs only to the inside,” says Barry Bumgarner, a consultant with MGT of America, a Florida-based company that helps police departments and other public agencies improve their management.

        The problem with inside promotions is the potential for “group think,” says Mr. Bumgarner, a former police commander.

        “If you've got people who've been together 30 years and have always done things the way they've always done them, trying to be innovative and find new ways to solve problems is going to be difficult,” he says.

        Cincinnati's top-ranking black officer, Assistant Chief Ronald Twitty, defends the division's record of innovation. He recently attended a national conference in which Chattanooga, Tenn., was praised for starting a citizen's police academy, which teaches citizens why and how police make the decisions they make. Cincinnati has had such a program since 1995, Lt. Col. Twitty says.

        Still, he likes the idea of a national search for future chiefs. Cincinnati should think more like a corporation, he says: Hiring the best means looking at the largest possible pool of candidates, and nothing says insiders wouldn't emerge on top.

        “Even if (the amendment) passes, it doesn't mean someone here couldn't be chief,” Lt. Col. Twitty says.        

Competitive test

        Cincinnati's city manager selects a chief from the top three candidates within the division. The pool is usually narrowed to three through a competitive examination process similar to the one used for other top police supervisors.

        This isn't the best way to pick a chief, says Larry Gaines, chairman of the criminal justice department at California State University-San Bernardino.

        At such a high level, police chief candidates are all going to do fairly well on written exams, role-play exercises and the like, Dr. Gaines says. It's more important to determine their leadership abilities, accomplishments and innovation in previous assignments, he says.

        “If you open up Cincinnati to the outside, you don't go through this testing stuff for police chief — that's ridiculous,” says Dr. Gaines, a co-author of textbooks on police administration.

        “I think that's a little odd, too,” says Ron Palmer, the police chief in Tulsa and vice president of the Major City Chiefs' Association. “You're not talking about an entry-level position. Anybody can test on any given day and do well.”

        In the 1999 competition for chief, the city's Civil Service Commission brought in an outside consultant to grade the candidates on written and oral exams and job simulation exercises. The candidates also interviewed with a panel of citizens.

        Out of the top three finishers, City Manager John Shirey selected No. 1, Mr. Streicher.

        One of the other candidates, Assistant Chief Richard Janke, says the city needs such testing as a “combination of objective factors to choose the best person.”

        “What I fundamentally reject is any expert saying, "You shouldn't be testing for chief.' That's a narrow, naive view of what testing can be,” Mr. Janke says.        

Hard to dismiss

        As part of the civil-service system, Cincinnati chiefs also are protected from arbitrary termination. They can't be fired except for reasons cited in the state's civil-service law, including incompetence, inefficiency, dishonesty, insubordination or conviction of a felony.

        “It's probably easier to get an act of God than to fire a police chief with civil service,” says Dr. Gaines, the professor at California State University.

        Cincinnati officers say this protection is essential. Without it, Chief Streicher likely would have been fired for political reasons as soon as anti-police protesters took over a City Council meeting in April, they say. That episode was the precursor to three days of civil unrest sparked by the fatal shooting of a black man by police.

        The concern about political pressure is understandable, Dr. Gaines says. But at the same time, chiefs must be responsive to elected officials, who have made promises to the public, he says.

        There are ways to protect the chiefs from arbitrary termination while still ensuring that they can be held accountable, the professor says. Cincinnati's proposed charter amendment includes some protection from firing for the police and fire chiefs. Under a provision suggested by council member Phil Heimlich, the chiefs could be fired only for cause. The examples listed in the amendment are identical to those in civil-service law.

        “I don't want the police chief to become a political flunky of whoever has the loudest voice on City Council,” Mr. Heimlich says.

        Enquirer staffers Jane Prendergast and Robin Buchanan contributed to this story.
       

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