Cincinnati Police Impunity and SUBPOENA power. Press exposes Power Structure!

These 2 recent Cincinnati press articles really illustrate the tangled web of coverup concerning police violence, brutality, killings, lawbreaking, etc.. in Cincinnati and other cities nationwide. The independent police review body in Cincinnati, the Citizen\'s Review Board, has no SUBPOENA POWER.

The other police review body, the Office of Municipal Investigation (OMI), must get permission from the Cincinnati city manager to get subpoenas. The city manager is subject to firing from the city council. The city manager has to think of his future job prospects, too. Those prospects can be made very difficult by police and prison guard unions, both of which are very powerful. Not to mention corporate Republicrats.

The person really in charge, the city manager, John Shirey, is himself under investigation by OMI. OMI has to get SUBPOENA approval from John Shirey!!!

Quotes from the newspaper articles below.
\"Shirey\'s action incensed some council members, who accused him of trying to intimidate the ex-worker and influence testimony about Shirey\'s involvement in possible misuse of taxpayer money by a West End group.\"

John Shirey is already leaving soon anyway, and his incentive is obviously to find future jobs. The OMI director is already being threatened (inferred from newspaper articles) with firing. The city council and mayor have long been reluctant to allow real investigation and independent review of the police, and in fact are blocking black councilmember\'s Alicia Reece\'s motions for SUBPOENA power.

Stay tuned for the next show in the soap opera,
\"As the buck is passed.\"


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The Cincinnati Post. June 5, 2001.
http://www.cincypost.com/2001/jun/05/record060501.html

OMI: Police dragging heels

By Jennifer Edwards, Post staff reporter

The head of the city\'s Office of Municipal Investigation says Cincinnati police are not providing information necessary to her investigations.

Kimberlee Gray, acting manager of OMI, said she hasn\'t yet received copies of the completed criminal investigation into the shooting deaths of Courtney Mathis or Jeffrey Irons despite repeated requests.

Mathis, 12, was shot to death Sept. 1, 2000, by Officer Kevin Crayon as he dragged Crayon with his car; the officer also died. Irons, a suspected shoplifter, was killed Nov. 8, 2000, after he snatched a police supervisor\'s gun and shot another officer in the hand.

Catherine Adams, attorney for the Mathis family, received the files on the Mathis case at least two weeks ago, Ms. Gray said. Ms. Adams could not be reached for comment.

\'\'We have no intention of interfering in a criminal investigation,\'\' Ms. Gray said. \'\'We\'re just trying to do our job and in order to do that we need a complete file from the criminal investigation section. It\'s the delay that\'s the problem. It\'s eight or nine months after the shooting now. It really hinders the investigation.\'\'

Members of the Citizens Police Review Panel members also are concerned because they can\'t review shots-fired cases until OMI completes its investigation. After Ms. Gray spoke to them Monday, the panel agreed to send a memo outlining their frustrations to City Manger John Shirey.

\'\'The panel perceives it is undermining public confidence when a body specifically created for the purpose of independent investigation is denied or delayed access to necessary materials,\'\' the memo reads.

Ms. Gray and panel members say the delays aren\'t helping already frayed relations between police and the community.

\'\'This is really serious,\'\' she said. \'\'The community wants answers and they need answers immediately.\'\'

Ms. Gray said she has asked police repeatedly for the files, but is told each time they are not complete.

Assistant City Solicitor James Johnson conceded that if the Mathis family attorney has access to the documents, so should OMI.

Sgt. John Newsom in the Homicide Unit said Tuesday he believed the homicide detective in charge of the Mathis investigation completed it and turned it over to the division\'s Internal Affairs Section for a review.

\"It\'s out of here,\'\' Sgt. Newsom said.

Lt. Col. Richard Biehl, who oversees investigations, told Ms. Gray and concerned panel members that he did not know if the criminal case was complete.

An April 25 memo to Acting Safety Director Greg Baker from Ms. Gray outlines her concerns that the criminal case files on Mathis and Irons are being withheld by police. She also expressed the same problems to Kent Ryan, the former safety director who was reassigned following the April riots.

Baker said he and other police officials were too busy dealing with riot-related issues to look into Ms. Gray\'s concerns.

\'\'We haven\'t really gotten back to business since,\'\' Baker said. \'\'It\'s been one thing after another.\'\'

Baker confirmed that the criminal investigation into the Irons case is complete but would not reveal its outcome. He said he did not know the status of the Mathis case.

The Justice Department recently launched an investigation into the police division\'s practices and patterns to determine if civil rights are violated. Federal investigators are expected to interview Ms. Gray and the citizen\'s panel, as well as review their investigations.

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The Cincinnati Post. June 5, 2001.
http://www.cincypost.com/2001/jun/05/omi060501.html

City wrestles with internal probe policy

By Kevin Osborne, Post staff reporter

Cincinnati officials agree that investigations into possible misconduct that involve the city manager and his staff need more independence, but they can\'t decide whether to give greater autonomy to the city\'s investigators or to hire outside help.

A City Council committee Monday debated a proposal to allow the city\'s Office of Municipal Investigation to report directly to City Council under certain circumstances, bypassing City Manager John Shirey.

Shirey strongly urged that council reject the proposal, saying it would dilute his control over City Hall\'s 7,000-person workforce.

\'\'Every organization has a chief executive,\'\' Shirey said. \'\'It is important for one person to command control. . . When anything is done to undermine that, that person loses the ability to get anything done.\'\'

The city\'s legal department - which reports to Shirey - also said the proposal may violate the city\'s charter, which requires that all personnel report to the city manager, not council.

\'\'Either we have the city manager form of government or we don\'t,\'\' said Council Member Paul Booth. \'\'This will allow for more interference from council.\'\'

Council members who support the proposal, however, noted inspector generals at the state and federal level are granted a similar level of independence without jeopardizing the authority of the governor or president.

But Shirey and some City Council members said OMI should continue to report to the city manager, and that the OMI chief should have to ask the mayor to hire outside investigators when inquiries prompt possible conflicts of interest.

\'\'The last thing I want to do is create a new bureaucracy,\'\' said Council Member Pat DeWine. \'\'I don\'t know why we can\'t do it within the existing (OMI) system.\'\'

A decision will be made later this month, before City Council begins its summer break.

The debate began last month after Kimberlee Gray, OMI\'s acting chief, told City Council that Shirey interfered in an investigation by delaying her request to subpoena a former city worker and asked that city lawyers contact the man first.

Shirey\'s action incensed some council members, who accused him of trying to intimidate the ex-worker and influence testimony about Shirey\'s involvement in possible misuse of taxpayer money by a West End group.

Shirey, in turn, said Ms. Gray was insubordinate and didn\'t follow proper procedures.

\'\'There is no organization I know of where a chief executive would tolerate that type of situation,\'\' Shirey said.

Council Member Jim Tarbell asked Shirey why he didn\'t use his authority to fire Ms. Gray. Shirey said he didn\'t have City Council\'s support, an argument Tarbell called hypocritical and illogical.

\'\'That is not and should never be why you execute your responsibilities under the charter,\'\' Tarbell told Shirey. \'\'Is your job more important than your integrity?

Council Member Alicia Reece said Ms. Gray may be a \'\'disgruntled employee\'\' because she was told she wouldn\'t be considered to permanently fill the position as the chief of the OMI.

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There are many more Cincinnati March for Justice
photos, reports, audio, video, etc at
Ohio Valley Indymedia
http://ohiovalleyimc.org
San Francisco Indymedia
http://sf.indymedia.org/
Prisons and Police Brutality IMC
http://sf.indymedia.org/features/police/
Chicago Indymedia
http://chicago.indymedia.org/
and Global Indymedia
http://www.indymedia.org
10 pages (and growing) of great photos:
http://www.booksellersunion.org/cincinnati

Video, audio, text, photos, breaking news and more about the Cincinnati Ohio protests, April 7 2001 Timothy Thomas killing by police, rebellion, uprising, riots, investigations, politics, racial profiling, police brutality, police rampages, beanbag (METAL PELLETS - BUCKSHOT IN A BAG) and rubber/plastic bullet injuries and hospitalizations, etc.. There have been 4 killings of blacks (one by asphyxiation - Roger Owensby) by Cincinnati police since November 2000. 2 of the 4 were unarmed. That\'s 50 percent, folks! 5 blacks have been killed since September 2000. 15 blacks killed by Cincinnati police since 1995 (16 if William Wilder is included). No whites killed. In Cincinnati there is NO local, independent, police review board with SUBPOENA power. The Cincinnati police are OUT-OF-CONTROL of civilian authority. A civilian President controls the military, but the Cincinnati police make their own laws?! A LOCAL POLICE STATE, where the white police union leader, Keith Fangman, regularly spouts off his rightwing, and sometimes racist (whether the dumbass knows it or not), opinions on a 50,000 watt, clear-channel, AM hate-radio, race-baiting, talk radio, call-in station (WLW 700 AM) that sometimes can be heard across 38 states. Corporate and progressive news URLs:
http://1230thebuzz.com/ --1230 AM. WDBZ. Cincinnati black talk radio. 1000 watts.
http://www.cincinow.com --TV 9. Video, audio, text, photos.
http://www.channelcincinnati.com --TV 5. Video, audio, text, photos.
http://www.cincynation.com --Various news sources compiled.
http://enquirer.com --Cincinnati Enquirer.
http://www.cincypost.com --Cincinnati Post.
http://www.cincinow.com/specials/city_in_distress/news/ --CinciNow unrest archives.
http://www.cincinow.com/specials/city_in_distress/news/video.shtml --Video archives.
http://www.real.com/player --RealPlayer 8 Basic is a free, streaming video, player.
http://www.citybeat.com/current/unrest.shtml --CityBeat unrest archives.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/Local/Cincinnati_Riots/ --Yahoo Full Coverage.
Stories Of 15 Black Men Killed By Police Since 1995:
http://www.cincinow.com/specials/city_in_distress/news/story46.shtml
At the bottom of the AP and Reuters newswire pages is a dropdown menu to select news from previous days. Check for Cincinnati news:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ts/nm/?u --Reuters.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ts/ap/?u --Associated Press (AP).
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/index.html -- Off The Wire. Raw news.
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