Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher accused the city manager Wednesday of pressuring him to resign and denying him a bonus.

        He also said some council members were so aggressive about wanting information about the police shooting that touched off riots in April that he threatened to have them investigated.

Streicher

        Chief Streicher, who made the comments Wednesday in a meeting with The Cincinnati Enquirer's editorial board, cited the incidents as evidence of what could happen if voters approve Issue 5, which would remove police and fire chiefs from civil service protection.

        City Manager John Shirey denounced the chief's comments as “a pack of lies.”

        “Maybe when he went in for that knee surgery, they cut a little too high and got to his brain,” Mr. Shirey said of the still-recuperating chief. “That's just bunk. I've done nothing but support Tom Streicher since he's been police chief.”

Shirey

        From the beginning of the Issue 5 campaign, Chief Streicher has said he thinks he would have been fired in April had he not been protected by civil service.

        And with some council members looking to fire Mr. Shirey, the city manager worked out a deal in May that allowed him to stay on until a new mayor and council are sworn in Dec. 1.

        For the first time Wednesday, Chief Streicher outlined his case in detail, citing a number of examples of what he said were political pressure or attempts to fire him:

        • Two days after Officer Stephen Roach fatally shot Timothy Thomas, unnamed council members demanded the chief disclose what he knew about the investigation, Chief Streicher said.

        He said he told the council members that if their interference went any further he would go to the Hamilton County prosecutor with charges of witness intimidation.

        “Three mornings after that, Shirey said he wanted to fire me.”

        • On April 12, in the midst of rioting, Mr. Shirey had a staff meeting with the police chief and other top city officials.

        Mr. Shirey told Mayor Charlie Luken, “What do you want me to do? I can't fire the police chief.”

        Mr. Shirey said he doesn't remember the remark but doesn't doubt making it, given the tension of the moment. But he denied ever saying he wanted to fire the chief.

        • In June, the city manager held up a $5,000 paycheck in an effort to persuade the police chief to sign away his civil service protection, Chief Streicher said.

        “They're trying to force me into an unclassified position,” he said.

        He said when he objected, the city manager sent a message: “Don't think that any of this is negotiable.”

        Mr. Shirey said the withheld pay is unrelated to performance.

        For years, he said, police and fire chiefs have been paid under a loose and unwritten package which includes longevity pay, sick pay, vacation pay and “all kinds of goodies.”

        He said he withheld the $5,000 — a twice-a-year payment to chiefs and assistant chiefs in lieu of overtime — in an effort to get Chief Streicher to negotiate a written compensation package.

        Mr. Shirey said Chief Streicher can't sign away his civil service protection. Instead, the reclassification was to put the chief in the same class as his peers.

        “What I've said all along is we should treat the police chief like he was a division head, which he is. Isn't that terrible?” he said sarcastically.

        Chief Streicher said he fears that if Issue 5 passes, future chiefs will lose their jobs if they don't bow to political pressure.

        The proposed charter amendment would allow the city manager to hand-pick police and fire chiefs — and their assistant chiefs — from inside or outside the department.

        But Mr. Shirey said Chief Streicher's outspoken criticism of City Hall was one of the strongest arguments in favor of Issue 5.

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