Friday, May 26, 2000
Sentinels: Don't let chief's slur slide
By Robert Anglen and Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The leader of Cincinnati's black police officers group says there's no excuse for the police chief's use of a racial slur — and he is demanding action from city hall.
A new city policy prohibits city employees from making racial, sexist or religious jokes and comments, and says violators “shall” be subject to disciplinary actions.
But City Manager John Shirey said Thursday the policy doesn't apply to the chief's comment.
“It is not a comment that attaches to it any kind of derogatory meaning,” he said. “The chief's point was to say using that word would be wrong.”
That word is one Police Chief Thomas Streicher admits using during a training class, asking what the reaction would be if he called an African-American sergeant a racial epithet.
“There was no malice or ill will intended by chief,” Mr. Shirey said. “It was said in a classroom setting where he was dramatizing a point. Unfortunately, to use the word he did was a mistake.”
On Saturday, the chief apologized to Sgt. Andre Smith for the May 10 remark, which took place during a training seminar at
the police academy.
But Scotty Johnson, president of the Sentinel Police Association, the black officers' group, said what the chief meant by the remark doesn't matter and the apology is not enough.
“Any time that word is used, it is highly offensive and it is wrong. It is insulting. That's the bottom line,” he said, adding that the chief's use of the slur was “shocking, dehumanizing and degrading.”
Sgt. Smith, a a 13-year veteran who supervises officers on first shift in District 2, did not return phone calls Thursday. But he has filed a complaint with Public Safety Director Kent Ryan and is asking that administrative sanctions be taken against the chief.
He maintains that he was singled out by the chief because of his membership in the Sentinels.
Chief Streicher, who left Cincinnati after the Saturday meeting, is on a previously scheduled fishing vacation and could not be reached for comment.
“Andre was insulted,” Mr. Johnson said, adding that his group is confident city administrators will “do the right thing.”
He said there are serious racial problems in the city, and that this is the third incident between a black officer and a white supervisor in two months. In one case, he said a white supervisor assaulted an officer, and in the other a white officer distributed an Ebonics version of the Miranda warning at the police academy.
Relations have been so strained in several departments that two months ago city officials adopted a strict new ordinance and a 19-point corrective action plan. The plan — written in response to a myriad of concerns raised in an October report by the Cincinnati branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — requires a system by which the city will eliminate discrimination.
It outlines several zero-tolerence policies and indicates there will be penalties for offenders.
“To interpret (what the chief said) as racial slur, or that he was saying something bad about another person, would be wrong,” Mr. Shirey said, adding that he is not ready to discuss any kind of discipline. “We'll wait and see.”
Study: Festivals worth millions
Termites ready to stop swarming, start eating
Americana to reopen under new owner
Park buyer no stranger in Butler
Port authority asked for Banks
Sentinels: Don't let chief's slur slide
'Son of Beast' cleared to reopen
Ambulance firm owes $861K, Ohio says
Basilica altar will be moved
Miss America helps veteran, family go home
Bank robberies up this year
Clerk wings would-be bandit
Deal lets Bengals manage stadium
Hillary Clinton comes back to Cincinnati for more money
List of Memorial Day observances
Butler County
Clermont County
Hamilton County
Northern Kentucky
Warren County
ADHD.com pays attention to parents
GET TO IT
Grandmother tries heal old hatreds
Brichto's projects build understanding
Leis defends views on Mapplethorpe
Pig Parade: Marbleized (Pig)ment
Retiree spreads his success to others
Search ends for CCM dean
Send us your cyber-speak
5 named to board of MRDD
Carjackings begin with holdup at ATM
Central State reduces student loan defaults
Crisis Card offers hope in palm of hand
Four honored for civic service
Ky. tobacco farmers get $140 million
Newport wary of gambling plan
Officer sues two Ludlow councilmen
Phone tax to finally die
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book
Tristate Digest
Visit helps cheer ailing classmate
