EVENDALE — Officer Stephen Roach was ordered back on patrol Thursday by the village mayor amid hot protest from opponents that resulted in the arrest of one woman and an abrupt end to the council meeting.

        Speaking to The Enquirer after the meeting Thursday, a joyous Officer Roach said he felt “pretty good” and was glad to get back in a police cruiser.

Lynn Watts is arrested Thursday by Evendale Police Chief Gary Foust (left) and another officer while her husband tries to intervene. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        “I'm just happy to be back on the street and happy to be back protecting Evendale,” he said. “It's all I've ever wanted to do and it continues to be what I want to do.”

        Officer Roach will immediately return to the street, Police Chief Gary Foust said.

        “He belongs out there and has a zeal and passion for the job,” he said. “That zeal and passion is what has distinguished him. When he returns, I expect the same level of performance. He gives 120 percent out there.”

        Officer Roach successfully completed his field training program while on administrative duty, Chief Foust said. When he returns to the street, he will be shadowed by a supervisor for 50 hours, then go on patrol solo on an afternoon/early evening swing shift. Chief Foust also will give Mayor Douglas Lohmeier a weekly update on Officer Roach's progress.

        “We feel quite confident he is capable of meeting the challenges,” Chief Foust said.

Roach

        The village put Officer Roach on desk duty March 27 following the release of a Cincinnati Police Department internal affairs report that criticized him in the April 7, 2001 fatal shooting of a fleeing, unarmed black man, which sparked Cincinnati's riots. The report said that he violated police procedure, then gave investigators conflicting statements about how the shooting unfolded.

        Evendale officials then gave him until January 2003 to clear his name. If he couldn't, he would be fired, according to a letter placed in his personnel file.

        But that letter has been removed from his file, and Mr. Lohmeier placed him back on patrol Thursday, because village leaders' concerns were resolved at an April 24 grievance hearing for the officer.

        Under the ordinance Evendale council approved when Mr. Roach was hired, he could not be removed from patrols if his job performance was good, his attorney, Bill Gustavson, argued at the grievance hearing.

        “My decision is based on the fact that Stephen Roach has every right as an employee to complete his probationary period given to him by our hiring ordinance ... as long as he obtains a satisfactory rating throughout his probationary period,” Mr. Lohmeier said.

        At the grievance hearing, according to a transcript released Thursday, Mr. Gustavson pointed out that the officer was acquitted in connection with the shooting and said “the only new matter in the report were opinions, not facts.”

        In an interview, Mr. Gustavson accused the City of Cincinnati and Police Chief Tom Streicher of using Officer Roach as a scapegoat, saying the city only released the report, which came out just before the first anniversary of the riots, to appease the African-American community.

        “Streicher was out to accomplish a mission and Stephen was the helpless victim,” Mr. Gustavson said. “It was a political stunt. What the city of Cincinnati did was sacrifice Stephen and his job and reputation purely for their own purposes. That is wrong and it shouldn't have happened.”

        But when Mr. Lohmeier announced at Thursday night's council meeting that Officer Roach would return to patrol, many in attendance lashed out.

        Some of them wore T-shirts saying, “Bad Process! Bad Decision!”

        “Thank you for nothing!” resident Lynn Watts yelled at Mr. Lohmeier.

        He ordered her arrested moments later when she spoke longer than the scheduled minute and a half. Still talking, she was led from the room by two Evendale officers and charged with disrupting a public meeting. Chaos ensued, and the meeting was promptly adjourned.

        “What I see tonight is garbage!” Mr. Lohmeier told the crowd to scattered applause from some residents who support Officer Roach.

        After the meeting, Mr. Lohmeier said he and other council members plan to meet privately soon with leaders of the group against Officer Roach's hiring, Concerned Citizens of Evendale, to try to resolve the dispute.

        “It's disappointing mature adults can act like that,” Mr. Lohmeier said of the meeting.

        “I think council and the majority of Evendale residents are ready to get over this. Unfortunately, I don't think the Concerned Citizens are.”

        The group has filed suit with the Ohio Supreme Court to force a referendum on Officer Roach's hiring.

        Opponents said they still plan to meet with village leaders but also will pressure Evendale business leaders to urge council to dismiss Officer Roach.

        After the meeting, about 50 opponents gathered outside the municipal building.

        “To take this guy back is a declaration of racism. Council doesn't have a clue how painful this whole experience has been,” said resident Steve Jemison.

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